Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Maxine, we’re so proud of you, your father and I.

We are. But remember Max, you must be careful, especially now. We’ve been at war with China for over a decade now, and it’s bound to boil over soon. Be safe, and remember what I taught you.

*****

”I’m leeeeaaaaavin’ on a jet plane, I don’t know when I’ll be back agaaaain. Oh, babe, I hate to gooooo…”

“Ugh… come on…” Max groaned at the song on the radio. She reached out her arm to turn it off before sitting up in her bed. “At least play the recording of the person that wrote it.”

While she didn’t mind the Peter, Paul, and Mary recording of Leaving on a Jet Plane, she preferred John Denver’s. At least that was the recording that was played when she lived back in Oregon. She also recalled listening to Stairway to Heaven at her friend’s insistence. Though it was an eight minute song, she did enjoy it, especially when her friend would mimic playing the guitar near the end. A smile came to her face at the image of Chloe flicking away her cigarette and standing up when a certain part of the song came on. After she moved to Massachusetts, she hadn’t kept in touch with her best friend in… eight months. So… after she moved to Massachusetts. That”s a good friend, Max.

She got up out of bed, her feet touching the carpeted floor of her room. She passed the guitar she took with her as she made her way to the bathroom for her standard morning routine. I could always learn and play it for Chloe, if she ever came to visit, she thought to herself as she entered the shower. On the radio was Ring of Fire, which faded to Atom Bomb Baby, then Mr. Sandman. She tapped the side of the sink as she dried herself off and brushed her teeth. Feeling ready for the day, she quickly got dressed before heading down the hallway towards the kitchen.

She turned on the tv before taking two eggs and cracking them open over the stove. An advertisement for the Mr. Handy line of robots was on. I should really get one of those. Out of everyone in Sanctuary Hills, she was probably the only person without one. A robot that could clean, cook, do yard work, and all powered by nuclear energy. Who wouldn’t want one? Although, in her defense, she only moved in around eight months ago, and lived by herself. The Commonwealth Institute of Technology, or CIT, had held a national photography contest, in which Max had entered, and came in third place. Though she didn’t get a dorm room, she still got a scholarship, and found a home in Sanctuary to live in instead, which meant moving from Arcadia Bay, Oregon, all the way across the country to Massachusetts.

She took the eggs off of the stove and plated them before taking a seat at the kitchen table. Her parents’ words were still playing in her head from before she was woken up. She could call them. After all, it was a Saturday. Which meant calling Chloe was also an option. The advertisement ended, and the weather forecast was on.

“Onto next week. Boston and surrounding areas will have weather in the high 50s, low 60s, perfect for any Halloween celebrations. No signs of storms, but clouds are in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. Our troops stationed overseas are enjoying some nice weather as well. And now onto a look at sports…”

Max loved this time of year, especially back in Oregon. The leaves changing colors, mixed with the sun and wind, presented almost infinite photo possibilities. In fact, she entered the CIT photography contest with an autumn picture, and placed. She thought about taking the bus down to Boston Public Garden for a few shots. But first things first. She finished the breakfast she made for herself before deciding to call her parents.

“Mom? Dad?”

“Maxine, we were just about to call you,” her father answered. “Do you have the tv on?”

“Uh… of course I do, Dad. Why, what’s going on?”

“Turn to the news channel,” he told her. She did, and what was being reported shocked her.

“Yes, followed by flashes, blinding flashes. Sounds of… explosions. We are… uh… trying to get confirmation, but we… seem to have lost contact with our affiliate stations. No, we now have coming in… uh… confirmed reports… yes, confirmed reports… of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania.”

The tv screen turned to static.

“Oh, no. This is what you were talking about.” Max said.

“It is, Maxine. Unfortunately, war has come. You were given a spot in that vault… what was it… Vault 111?”

“Everyone at CIT did.”

“Good. Get to the vault. You’ll be safe there.”

“Okay, but what’s going on over there?”

“We’re making our way to the vault they built in town. My CO gave me an early warning of the attack. Don’t waste time, Max. Go, and be safe.”

“We love you,” she heard her mother say.

“I love you both,” she responded before hanging up. She rushed back to her room to grab her CIT ID card, which was needed for proof that she had a spot in the vault. She grabbed it off of her nightstand. With her ID card in hand, she walked outside the front door and towards the path that led to the vault.

There was chaos all around. Families were rushing into their cars, others pulling suitcases through their front doors. As she turned to follow the path to the vault, she saw a military vehicle cross the bridge to the community. A vertibird flew overhead, a message playing through its speakers. “Residents of Sanctuary Hills. If you are enrolled in Vault 111, make your way over. Now.”

As she approached, she saw a crowd of people waiting to get in beyond the gates. She heard a man shouting at the crowd. “If you have a CIT identification card, make your way up immediately.”

Max made her way through the crowd and up to the man at the gate. He was wearing standard military fatigues, while the other guards at the gate were wearing power armor, the kind her dad had used during his time serving. “I have my card,” She said to the man, holding it up and showing him.

He took a quick glance at it, then turned to the side and nodded. “Alright. Go.”

She nodded back to him as she continued along the dirt path. A man from Vault-Tec was directing everyone. “Step onto the platform,” he said.

There were about eight others already on the platform. As she stepped on, she took another look at the Boston skyline, just barely visible in the distance. The sky was a clear blue, not a cloud in view, with the sun just visible above the trees. If only she had her camera for a picture…

Then it hit. A mushroom cloud appeared in the distance, the glow of the explosion caused her to briefly look away.

“Send it down! Send it down! Now!” She heard someone yell.

“But there’s still room for…”

“SEND IT NOW!”

A slow, droning beeping sounded, and the platform slowly descended. Right before the doors to the outside world shut, the shockwave from the blast reached them. Everything went dark for a few seconds before the entrance from the vault came into view. There was a man in the signature Vault-Tec blue jumpsuit with a big “111” on the back. “Everyone, welcome to your new home. Vault 111, a better future. Underground. Please proceed up the stairs in an orderly fashion. We will get you all situated, but first we must run a few medical tests.”

One by one, they each proceeded up the metal stairs and onto the metal walkway that ran through the large vault door. She felt a sudden rush of cold air as she entered the vault’s entranceway. There were several people already in blue jumpsuits, mainly employees of Vault-Tec.

“Names,” a man in Vault-Tec security armor asked, holding a clipboard.

“Uh… Maxine Caulfield,” she answered.

The man looked down at his clipboard for a brief moment before looking back up at her. “CIT, right?”

“Yes.”

He nodded before gesturing to the right.with his head. “Over there’s an attendant that’s giving out your vault suits. Take one, then we’ll get you to orientation.”

“Thank you,” Max said, walking over to the attendant standing by stacks of boxes piled on the table.

“Hello. Caulfield, right?” The attendant asked.

“Yes.”

Max was handed a folded blue jumpsuit. “There are a few changing stations behind me. Please put on your jumpsuit, then we will take you further into the vault,” the attendant said to her.

She walked into one of the changing stations and pulled the curtain shut before taking off her regular shirt and jeans. She shivered when the cold air met her bare skin. At least no one will tease me about my style now, Max thought as she pulled on the jumpsuit, remembering Chloe’s teasing when she was back in Oregon. She zipped up the front, the fabric tightly clinging to her. At least it was somewhat warm. As she stepped out of the changing booth, there were about two others standing around before a man in a lab coat walked up to them. “If you’re finished, please follow me down to decontamination,” he said to them, turning to a door which automatically opened, leading down a long hallway lined with large pods. They all followed him.

“So, where are we going to live?” Someone next to her asked.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be going over all of that in orientation. We just need to take care of one more thing first,” the man said, stopping beside three open pods. “If you would, step into the pod. We’re going to remove any bacteria or harmful substances you may have picked up from the surface, as well as scan you for any underlying medical conditions.”

Max climbed into the pod on her left, leaning against the back padding of the inside.

“This will only take a moment,” the man said as the pod closed with a hiss.

An electronic voice spoke, startling her.

“Resident secure. Occupant vitals, normal. Procedure complete.”

She was ready for a whole new life, being safe from the radiation and anything else from the outside. A better future, underground.

“In five… four… three… two… one…”

Suddenly, everything got cold. It didn’t stop. Her entire body went cold. She could feel herself losing her senses. Her feeling, her sight, her hearing.

*****

Her senses slowly started to come back to her.

“This is the one!” She heard someone say.

“Well, come on! Help me get it open!” Another voice saying, sounding awfully familiar to her.

The pod slowly opened with a hiss, and standing before her were two others, each with a bag of some kind over their shoulders. One of them she didn’t recognize, but the other-

“Chloe…” Max said, stepping out of the pod, throwing herself into her best friend, hugging her.

“Hey, Max. You okay?” Chloe asked, hugging her back.

“I… guess. Just… cold,” she replied, coughing as she let go of her. She looked around. “What happened? Everything looks… old.”

Chloe shrugged. “Dunno. Rach and I just got out a few minutes ago. We found your name on a clipboard with all the pods and who was in them.”

“Rach?” Max asked, looking at the other girl.

“Oh, right, shit. Max, this is Rachel. She’s a friend back from Arcadia Bay.”

“Hey,” Rachel said with a wave of her hand. “Chloe’s said a lot about you.”

Max looked at Chloe. “Good things, I hope?”

“Of course, dork,” Chloe said, taking her hand and ruffling her brown hair.

“Chloe, we should probably try to find a way out of here.”

“Good idea. Come on, Max.”

She followed the other two out of the room with the pods. “So how’d you two get over here from across the country?” She asked Chloe.

“Well, her dad got us the last two vacant spots in here. He uh… got Vault-Tec out of some legal troubles back in Arcadia Bay. We were flown out the day before and got settled down somewhere before everything… went to shit. Since he had some kind of connection to the government, he got an early warning about everything, so he told us, and we got our asses over here. We were among the first few down here before everything happened.”

“Yeah. Everything happened so… suddenly.”

They made their way out back to the vault door and the entranceway where they originally entered. There were a few skeletons laying on the ground. It only felt everything happened minutes ago. Why was everything old?

“Well, the doors shut. No getting it open on our own.”

“Well, how do we get it open?” Chloe asked.

“From what I read on that terminal, we need some kind of Pip-Boy.”

“Great. Where do we find one?”

Max spotted one on one of the skeletons. “I think this is one,” she said, walking over to it and picking it up, the bones of the hand and arm falling out of it. She placed the device on her left arm. The screen flickered to life, and she wiped the dust off of the screen as it rebooted. There were various tabs at the top of it, one for each of its uses, as well as a heartbeat reader, blood toxicity level reader, and a Geiger counter. She looked at the back of the device, where there was a retractable cord. She drew it out.

“Put that in the vault door controls. Should open the vault,” Rachel said.

Max did as she was told, taking the cord and plugging it into the console near the vault. Vault-Tec door interface appeared on the screen, and a small case opened, revealing a red button. She pushed it, and an alarm sounded, as well as yellow flashing lights that lit up the small entrance. A large metal arm came down from the ceiling and attached itself to the vault door, moving it backwards with a piercing sound.

“Sounds like fucking nails on a chalkboard,” Chloe remarked.

The door was rolled to the side, and the metal bridge was unfolded, allowing them access to the lift that brought them down here in the first place.

“Alright, let’s get out of here,” Rachel said.

“Agreed. Come on Max.”

“Uh-huh.” She still had a million questions flying around in her mind.

“Max, let’s go,” Chloe said, grabbing her hand and leading her over to the lift. There was another red button, which Chloe pressed, and the gate to the vault closed as the lift slowly ascended back up. An automated voice played.

“Enjoy your return to the surface. And thank you for choosing Vault-Tec.”

None of them expected, or could have ever imagined, what was waiting for them at the top.

*****

A sliding door to the Directorate room opened, entering a machine, basically a walking clunk of exposed mechanics and wiring in the form of a metal skeleton, it’s eyes yellow rings with black centers. Already standing in the room was a man looking out through the large glass windows at the civilization that lay before him.

The machine spoke in a deep robotic voice. “Sir. That vault, Vault 111, has opened.”

“Good. Inform Mr. Prescott, and keep tabs on them.” The man didn’t bother to turn around.

“Yes, Father.”

Chapter Text

Max wasn’t sure what to expect above ground. She saw the mushroom cloud rise in the distance, but wasn’t sure what happened after. The doors above the platform opened, letting in sunlight. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. The platform lurched to a stop, bringing them up to what was left.

“What the hell?” Chloe gasped.

For starters, everything was barren. No natural color anywhere in the landscape. It was also dead silent, the only noise was the wind blowing through the leafless trees.

“Why is everything so… we’ve only been down there for… no.” Max said, looking at her Pip-Boy for the time. It’s October 23, 2287? “It can’t be…”

“Max? What’s wrong?” Chloe asked her.

“Its… we’ve been down there for two-hundred years!”

Chloe looked at the Pip-Boy’s screen. “No… no, that can’t be right. It felt like an hour tops.”

“Well, if everything went down just hours, or even days ago, there’d be fallout and radiation from the bombs. Plus, it explains why the vault, and everything else, looks so… old.” Rachel pointed out.

“So, two-hundred years…” Max said again.

“Fuck…” Chloe sighed.

“We should probably try to find some kind of shelter or… something. There’s some stuff in our bags that we took from the vault, but we should probably get settled somewhere… and figure out what to do next,” Rachel said.

“Yeah… I’m just… still trying to process everything,” Max said, staring back at the date on her Pip-Boy.

“Well, we’re all here together,” Chloe said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, let’s look around.”

“O-okay,” Max replied, still dazed by everything she was witnessing.

As they made their way down from the vault, numerous skeletons littered the sides of the path.

“I guess they were the unlucky ones,” Rachel remarked.

“At least we didn’t end up like them,” Chloe replied.

Reaching the end of the path, Max led the other two to the left and down the road, but Chloe and Rachel went ahead of her. She looked around at her former community. The houses that were still standing had a substantial amount of rust. Others, however, were almost in complete disrepair. The few trees that lined the sidewalk were barren, much like the grass. The road running through the former community was in somewhat of a better shape, still being intact in most places. Rachel fell behind and walked alongside her.

“Back before everything happened, this was a nice place to live?” Rachel asked.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. It was nice. But it didn’t feel the same as Arcadia Bay.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Just… I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I mean… sure, it was nice here, but it was never the same. I missed going down to the beach… or to the lighthouse… hell, now, I even miss Blackwell.”

“You miss Blackwell?” Chloe asked, turning around, still ahead of them.

“Chloe, if I had a choice between this and Blackwell, I’d take Blackwell in a heartbeat.”

“Hm. I’d take this over that shithole any day.”

“Really?”

“Think about it, Max. We could be the last people alive. Which means, technically, we could do whatever we want. Hey, that gives me an idea! Why don’t we… woah!” Chloe tripped over a piece of sidewalk that was jutting out.

“Chloe! Are you okay?” Max asked, rushing over to her.

“I’m fine Max,” Chloe said, standing up, “You haven’t changed, have you? Still worrying about everything, huh?”

“Chloe, you need as many people as you can worrying about you,” Rachel said. “I did save your ass at that Firewalk concert, remember?”

“Okay. One, I only need you two worrying about me. Two, you didn’t save my ass. You distracted them enough for me to… well…”

“What you’re trying to say is, ‘I saved your ass.’” Rachel gave her a sly smile.

Chloe sighed. “Okay, fine. You saved my ass, but who kicked theirs?”

“Yeah, thanks for that. I almost got jumped at the junkyard a few days later.”

“But you didn’t, did you?”

“That’s not the point, Chloe.”

Max couldn’t help but let out a small laugh at their antics.

“Was she always like this?” Rachel asked her.

“More or less,” she said, looking at Chloe.

“You still love me.”

They both rolled their eyes, though they couldn’t deny it. “Come on, let’s keep looking around,” Chloe said.

They continued down the road, which ended into a cul-de-sac. Max suddenly stopped. Her old house. The blue and white siding, though rusted, had held up, even after two-hundred years. The windows were gone, the roof was slightly caving, but still liveable.

“Max?” Chloe came up beside her. “You okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just… this was…”

“Oh. You wanna check someplace else? We don’t have to stay in your place if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s fine,” Max said, shaking her head. “I’m just surprised it’s still here.” She walked up the front path, with Chloe close behind her.

“Well, let’s see what’s left,” Chloe said.

The door made a creaking noise as it opened. Max stepped inside with Chloe behind her. Rachel followed both of them. Surprisingly, nothing was missing. The living room and kitchen were still furnished, albeit things were thrown on the floor from the shockwave.

“I’m surprised at all that’s left,” Rachel remarked. “Wonder if there’s a use for any of it anymore.”

“Maybe,” Max said, making her way down the hallway. Chloe set her bag down on the table before following her.

“I’m going to check the outside,” Rachel called out to them.

“Alright,” Chloe replied.

Max went into her old room. Her bed was a pile of splinters, the nightstand was toppled over. Her old guitar way laying on the ground, the metal strings having rust on them for almost two centuries. But one thing caught her eye more than anything.

“My old camera,” she said, kneeling down and picking it up. It was way beyond repair. She set it back down on the floor. That and her guitar were the only things she took from Arcadia Bay when she moved. “That was all I had from Arcadia Bay…”

“Oh, Max…” Chloe said.

She felt Chloe putting an arm around her shoulder. She leaned in, resting her head on her best friend. She felt guilty. She promised to keep in touch, but she didn’t. It was such a sudden move, and she left just as Chloe’s father was being shipped off to the East to continue the fight.

“I’m sorry… Chloe. For being a bad friend.”

Chloe seemed taken aback for a second, but just shook her head. “Max, you were an awkward social dunce with no sense of style, and you were a bad friend.”

That made Max pull away. She looked at her.

Chloe took notice. “Let me explain. Were. I was mad. My dad was getting shipped off, my best friend was leaving for the opposite side of the country. I felt… abandoned. Then Rachel came along, and she… made things better. But I never stopped thinking about you. All the fun times we had together… all the stupid shit we used to do… you’re my best friend, and you always will be. I was mad at you, but I’m not anymore. With all this… crazy shit going on… I don’t want to be mad at you anymore. You’re back in my life now, that’s all that matters.”

“I’m… glad you’re back in my life too,” Max said with a sigh. “Especially now…”

“I’m… sorry about your camera. Unless you brought some photos from Arcadia Bay that you stored away, I’m not sure there’s-”

Max lit up, remembering. “Chloe! You’re a genius!” She scrambled over to the pile of wood that was her bed.

“Every now and then I do have a moment of genius…” Chloe replied as she watched her best friend digging at the wood pile in her room. “Uh, Max? Care to explain what you’re doing?”

“I had… something… under here…” Max said in between moving chunks of wood out of the way. “There was a section of the floor that looked like shit, so I converted it into a storage.”

“Storage for what?”

“Storage for… this!” She said, grabbing what she was looking for.

“Woah. Not bad, Long Max Silver. Any other hiding spots your best friend should be aware of?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Max said, taking the photo album and setting it in her lap.

“I’m glad you took all these pictures,” Chloe said as she scanned through all the photos of them from… a better time.

“I am too,” Max replied. Their entire childhood lay before them. Picture after picture of the two of them and Arcadia Bay. She could still see the colors of her former home. The sun setting at the lighthouse, mixed with the view of the town in the distance and the sky filled with the leaves that fell from the trees. She flipped the page to a photo of her family. “Chloe… what… what do you think happened to our parents?”

“Hm?” Chloe said, looking at the photo. “Oh… I never… really… thought of it.”

“It’s been… two-hundred years, but they did build a vault in town. Maybe… all the vaults were the same?”

“I… honestly don’t know Max. But, hey. Don’t think about that. We have each other, right?”

“R-right. We’re still Max and Chloe?”

“We’ll always be Max and Chloe,” Chloe said, smiling at her. Max couldn’t help but smile back.

“Always.” Max rested her head on Chloe’s shoulder, trying not to think about her parents. She focused on enjoying the quiet time they had together. Even after two-hundred years, they were still inseparable. They were still Max and Chloe.

Two gunshots broke the silence.

They both looked at each other. “Rachel!”

Chloe got up and tugged Max to her feet before rushing out the front door. Max was close behind. They found Rachel behind the house with a 10mm in her hand.

“Rach, what happened?” Chloe asked.

She turned around. “Mutated cockroach.”

“What?”

Rachel pointed at a large dead bug on the ground about the size of an office trash can. “Giant. Mutated. Cockroach.”

“Well… that’s… pleasant.”

“What is…” Max began, peeking out from behind Chloe. “Oh.”

“Yeah. At least the vault had something we could use to protect ourselves,” Rachel said as she put the pistol back in her bag. “Plus, I found some sort of mutated fruit-like stuff growing,” Rachel said, picking a purple fruit off of a small tree and tossing one to Chloe.

“Huh, interesting,” Chloe said, examining it before taking a bite out of it.

“Chloe!”

“Relax, Max. It’s not gonna kill me. Tastes like an apple, actually.”

Max rolled her eyes. It was just Chloe being Chloe, as usual. She looked around, noticing some other plants growing, looking like some tomatoes, corn, carrots, and potatoes. “So, I guess that’s dinner?” She asked, pointing out the plants.

“Guess so. I got it,” Rachel said, walking over to the patch of vegetables.

*****

That evening, the three sat around a campfire Rachel had made in Max’s front yard, the smoke disappearing into the night sky. The sun had already set, the moon and the stars the only things that were lighting up the sky.

“It’s still so easy to get lost in the stars,” Max said, looking up at the sky.

“Yeah. Makes it easy to forget that we’re two-hundred years into a post nuclear shitshow,” Chloe said through a mouthful of food. “Nice job on the stew, Rach.”

Rachel shrugged. “My dad used to take me camping on occasion back in Arcadia Bay. He showed me all this survivalist stuff like how to build a fire, that kind of crap. Back then I thought it was stupid, but it seems to be coming in handy now.”

“So… what do we do tomorrow?” Chloe asked. “We don’t really have a reason to venture out there.”

“Not sure,” Max said, shaking her head. “We just… survive. We haven’t had contact with anyone, but there could be people still out there.”

“Or anything else. You saw the size of that cockroach,” Rachel pointed out. “Who knows what kind of… mutations happened. Giant flies or killer bees or…”

“A giant spider the size of a house worshipped by a bunch of nutheads that only comes out once a year for a sacrifice?” Chloe suggested, and they all laughed, imagining the sight of one.

“That would be interesting,” Rachel said through a bite of stew.

Max turned to Chloe, “Let me guess. If it came down to it, you’d sacrifice me to cover an escape attempt?”

Chloe put her arm around her. “No, of course not. You wouldn’t be enough for it. And besides, I’d just beat it up.” She leaned over and planted a kiss on Max’s head. She blushed at the sign of affection. “Anyway, we should probably think about getting some sleep. I’m kinda wiped out.”

“Should someone keep watch?” Rachel asked, looking around.

“I think we’re safe here. We’ve only run one of those… cockroach things… and as far as we know, we’re the only ones around here.” Max said.

“And if anyone does try to fuck with us, they’ll be getting a bullet in their ass,” Chloe added.

“Chloe, I’m not sure a 10mm bullets gonna do much.”

“Eh, worth a shot, Rach. Besides, we have two. Should be enough to defend ourselves for now.”

“We should get some sleep,” Max agreed.

*****

They had made camp in Max’s living room, using the sofa and chairs that were still there as beds… of sorts, relying on their jumpsuits to keep them warm. Thankfully, they were well insulated against the cool night.

Max couldn’t sleep. She couldn’t see either, for that matter. They had put out the fire as a precaution to not attract any unwanted attention to themselves, only leaving the moon and stars for natural light. She kept thinking. What happened, and why? What happened to Arcadia Bay? Was there anyone left? Anywhere?

“Dark, isn’t it?” Rachel whispered.

“Yeah,” Max replied. “Dad told a story of his time in Anchorage. Always snowy, pitch black, and waiting. Always waiting… for an attack, or to attack…”

“Seems like hell compared to this.” They both smiled.

“Rachel… what do you think… happened… to our parents?”

“It’s been… two-hundred years. They’re… probably gone. I’m sorry, Max.”

Max shook her head. “No, it’s… okay. Really.” She sighed, “Rachel… everything’s so… uncertain. Who knows who’s out there… if there is anyone out there. And what’s out there. I… I don’t think I can do this.”

She felt a hand on her knee.

“We all feel that way. When Chloe and I got out, we spent an hour waiting and freaking out. Waiting for someone. From Vault-Tec, anyone. When we realized that no one was coming, Chloe was about to break. It took a while… but I convinced her to help search the vault for any… clues. That’s when we found your name.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“We just… live. Together. We scavenge, we… could look for others… but we have each other. We just have to survive.”

“I just wish everything didn’t happen. I was excited to start photography at CIT. I just wanted… a normal life. Why did everything have to happen?”

“My mom always said that things happen for a reason. I thought that was a load of shit, too, but look at where we are. The world’s hell, but we’re here together. I mean, you and Chloe are reunited again. Maybe… this all happened for a reason. Like fate.”

“Maybe.” Max looked up through a hole in the roof, noticing a few of the stars in the sky. Maybe Rachel was right. Maybe fate did play a part in everything. Maybe her and Chloe were meant to find each other again. She closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep. Tomorrow’s another day. Another day in the wasteland.

*****

Max woke up the next morning feeling a little better about the whole situation. She heard Chloe and Rachel talking in the kitchen. She wondered when they woke up as she looked at her Pip-Boy for the time. 9:41 am. With a stretch, she got up to see what the other two were talking about.

“So, in two hours of scavenging this place, we only came up with this?” Chloe asked, looking at the small pile of things on Max’s kitchen table that her and Rachel deemed valuable.

“At least we found another gun,” Rachel said.

“Yeah, a hunting rifle with one extra clip,” Chloe said back.

“Well, what were you expecting?”

She shrugged. “I dunno. This place didn’t seem looted. I just thought we would’ve found more than what we got.”

“Well, we could go out there, as dangerous as it is. Look around, see what’s left?”

“Where are you going?” Max asked, walking into the room.

“H-hey, look who’s up,” Chloe said, walking over and hugging her before giving her a kiss on the forehead. She blushed again as she hugged her best friend back.

“Hey. How long have you two been up?”

“About… two hours,” Rachel replied.

“Wha… two hours? Why didn’t you wake me?”

“We couldn’t really sleep. Besides, you looked cute all curled up on the sofa,” Chloe added as she ruffled Max’s hair.

“Well, what’ve you been up to?”

“Scavenging the area. Couldn’t find shit.”

“Couldn’t find good shit. We found some stuff that might come in handy,” Rachel said, tossing the rifle at Chloe. “Here. Figured you’d be the best with it.”

Chloe caught it. “Oh, yeah. Max, you can have my 10mm. It’s on the table if you want. I’ve got this now.”

She walked over to the table and picked it up, releasing the clip to check if it was still full, before returning the magazine inside the handle.

“You know your way around guns?” Chloe asked, obviously amused.

“Uh, sorta. Dad showed me how to use one of these and a bolt action rifle a few years… uh… before the bombs. If you two picked over this place already, I guess, if we wanted, we could go out there and-” Her Pip-Boy suddenly started to play static, interrupting her.

“Uh, Max? Something up with your Pip-Boy?” Chloe asked.

“Um, I don’t think so…” she responded, flipping through the menus until she got to the radio. “I… think it’s picking up a frequency.”

“Well, can you play it?”

“I think so.” She selected the third option available, aside from Diamond City Radio and the Classical Radio. The message played.

“This message will repeat. This is Preston Garvey of the Commonwealth Minutemen. I have settlers at the Museum of Freedom, in Concord, and we’re surrounded by raiders. If anyone is listening, we need assistance, please! This message will repeat…”

Max switched it off before looking at the other two. “Should we check it out?”

“Sounded like they needed help,” Rachel said. “How far is Concord from here?”

“Uh… ‘bout half an hour walk tops. It’s just to the south of us. Chloe, what do you think?”

Chloe leaned against the doorway. “Well… we got nothing else to do here. Besides, what’ve we got to lose?”

“So, to Concord then?”

Chloe outstretched her arm, pointing it out into the wasteland. “Lead on, Max.”

Chapter Text

They set out for Concord. Fortunately, the bridge that ran across the small river which connected Sanctuary Hills to the rest of Concord was somehow still intact, allowing them easy access across. After crossing, it was simply following the road that led to the town.

“Chloe, come on. You killed it on stage.”

“I wanted to kill you on stage,” Chloe responded, her and Rachel having spent the last ten minutes discussing the play that they had done at Blackwell. Max was listening curiously.

“You saved the play. ‘My dear, what if I told you that the entire fate of the production rests upon your slender shoulders?’ If you didn’t do it, the whole thing would’ve been canceled.”

“I only did it because you guilt tripped me into doing it. And I looked like a total idiot on stage.”

“No. I persuaded you. And you looked, and did good on stage. You got a standing ovation at the end.”

“Pfft. Persuaded my ass. You put me on the fucking spot. And people were clapping before you dragged me out from the back of the stage.”

“Seems like I missed a lot,” Max said with a little chuckle.

Chloe shrugged. “Eh, not a lot. Other than… that… it was basically me and Rachel hanging at the junkyard, getting stoned… or drunk… or both. Hell, now that I think about it, it was us that missed a lot.”

“I’m not the one that decided to mix weed and beer together,” Rachel pointed out. “You were so out of it, you were trying to drink the joint and smoke the bottle.”

Max laughed. “Sounds exactly like Chloe.”

Chloe just rolled her eyes before coming to a stop. “Hey… I know this isn’t Concord, but this looks interesting.”

The other two stopped as well, standing between the road they were walking on and the parking lot that was around the building, four gas pumps in front of it underneath a covering.

“The Red Rocket,” Max said, seeing the large rocket painted bright red, surprisingly still standing on top of the covering. “Surprised it’s still standing.”

“Think anything interesting’s there?” Rachel asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Chloe said, drawing her rifle and slowly walking towards the building. Max and Rachel took their guns out as well, flanking Chloe as they slowly approached.

“Good, looks deserted,” Chloe said as she lowered her rifle.

“Yeah, but we should still be careful,” Max said.

“Where’s the fun in that? Come on, I wonder what’s in here,” Chloe responded with a smile as she entered the dining area, looking around before making her way into the garage that was attached to the main building. “Damn. Nothing but useless junk in here… holy shit! You two, come here!”

“What’d she find?” Rachel asked.

“Dunno, let’s see what it is,” Max replied. They made their way into the Red Rocket’s garage. “Chloe, what’d you… oh, damn.”

“Shit. Not bad, Chloe.”

“I know, right?” Chloe said, a large smile on her face. “A T-45 set of power armor! What’s our fucking luck, right? Plus, with this power armor station, we can modify it even further!”

“When’d you learn so much about power armor?” Rachel asked her.

“Remember when the… what was it… the T-51 version… came out? They paraded them down Arcadia Bay on their way to Anchorage?”

“Vaguely.”

“Well, after that, I’ve always wanted to use a set, and now, I can,” Chloe said, walking behind the power armor. The smile was quickly wiped off of her face. “Oh. Damnit. Never mind.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Max asked.

“No fusion core. Without one, this thing’s basically useless. Fuck.”

“I’ll look around, maybe ones laying around somewhere,” Rachel said, walking out of the garage and back into the dining area of the gas station.

“Maybe this place has something left to hide,” Chloe said as she continued to scrounge around the garage while Max looked around. The inside needed some revamping after two centuries of neglect, but it could be used as storage space, or even turned into a liveable area with a lot of work. Maybe the people in Concord could find safety here…

Right. The people in Concord.

Max walked over to Chloe, who was on her knees checking the inside of a cabinet.

“Shit, shit, and more shit.”

“Uh… Chloe?”

“Hm?” Chloe asked over her shoulder.

“What about Concord?”

“What about Concord… oh, shit. I forgot.” She stood up. “Rachel!”

Rachel appeared back at the doorway. “Hey, what’s going on? No fusion core, by the way.”

“We should probably continue on to Concord, don’t you think?”

“Oh, Concord. I completely forgot. It’s just south of here, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright. Let’s get going.”

*****

“You know, we could find a vehicle to fix up. Maybe one of those old APCs near the bridge? Beats walking around everywhere,” Chloe remarked as they continued to make their way down the road that led from Sanctuary to the rest of Boston.

“Good luck finding a vehicle that isn’t rusted. And good luck getting a military vehicle running. Besides, a little exercise never killed anyone,” Rachel responded. “Anyway, we should focus on Concord. That radio message said something about… raiders? We should be careful. Who knows how many there are.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Chloe looked over at Max, walking over and putting an arm around her. “Hey, Max? You okay?”

“Yeah… I’m fine,” she sighed. “Just… I remember when everything wasn’t… like all of this.” She gestured around her with her hands as they reached the edge of Concord, crumbling buildings on both sides of the road.

Although Concord had seen better days, most buildings were still standing, to an extent. While some buildings on the outskirts were crumbling, most near the center of the town only had some holes in the walls.

There was also gunfire.

“Gunshots. Sounds like it’s coming from over here,” Chloe said.

They made their way down the road, which winded to the left, leading them closer to the center of the town. A few bodies littered the side of the road, dried blood pooling on the asphalt.

“This way, right up here,” she said, huddling behind the wall of an old brick building. Max peeked over the side of the wall which gave them a clear view of what was probably the Main Street. At the end was a tall three story building, which was being assaulted by raiders with varying weapons and armor. On top of the balcony on the third floor of the building was a lone figure fighting back. Whoever it was had a laser weapon, given that a red laser was coming from the balcony and the distinct sound of a capacitor discharging.

“Max, what do you see?” Chloe asked her.

“Uh, looks like four or five guys. And at the end of the road, the Museum of Freedom, where the radio message was coming from.”

“Shouldn’t be that hard to take care of. Come on, let’s try to get closer,” Chloe responded, holding onto her rifle as she slowly made her way down the right sidewalk, Max and Rachel close behind.

“Fuck, I’m out!” one of them yelled. He ducked behind a wall of sandbags to reload when he caught sight of them. “Shit. Hey, dumbasses! Cover the rear! We’re surrounded!”

Three others turned around from behind the sandbags they were huddling behind and began firing at them.

“Shit!” Chloe yelled, diving and taking cover against another wall of sandbags that were set up along the sidewalk. Max and Rachel took cover in a nearby alleyway, bullets whizzing by then and pounding the opposite wall.

“Fuck! I can’t get a clear shot!” one yelled. On that note, Chloe peered over the sandbags, having a clear view of them. She aimed, finger on the trigger of the rifle, and fired, dropping one of the raiders.

Max then looked out from the alleyway, staring down her gun’s sights on one of them. She shot but missed. He returned fire, causing her to duck back behind cover. Rachel just fired at them blind, not bothering to peek from cover. She only stopped when her magazine ran dry.

“Oh, fuck off!” one of them yelled as he emptied his magazine into their cover. “You’re gonna fucking pay for putting a bullet in my arm!” They heard the laser weapon fire, which dropped another raider.

Max peeked over again and stared down the sights. She took a deep breath, and once she had a clear shot on another, she fired, hitting his left shoulder. The man on the balcony finished him off.

“Nice shot,” Rachel remarked as Max ducked behind the wall again.

“Thanks. My dad brought me to a firing range one time. He… insisted it was necessary, given the current state of… everything. I didn’t do too bad for my first time holding a gun.”

Rachel nodded. “Huh, my dad did… and said… the same thing.”

“Hm. And what about Chloe…” she said as they watched her fire again and again, not hitting a single shot.

“Just… fucking… die… fuck I’m out!”

They looked at each other. “Nope.”

“Oh fucking come on!” the last raider yelled before he was put down by a laser to the forehead. The shooting stopped.

Chloe peered over the sandbags before jumping over them and surveying the area. “You two, coast is clear!” she called to the others.

Max and Rachel came out of the alley, and the three approached the Museum of Freedom.

“Hey! You on the balcony,” Rachel yelled as she approached the building, “We heard your radio message.”

“Oh, good. Someone heard it,” he said. “There are raiders still inside. Take what you can from that van and help clear them out, then we’ll talk!” He pointed briefly to his left before heading inside the museum.

“Shit, let’s go,” Chloe said, hurrying over to the right of the museum and climbing in the back of the van the man had pointed at. “Holy shit, how much stuff is in here?” she said as she pushed a few crates out of the van.

Max walked over to the crates Chloe had pushed out of the van and opened them. They all had a white star inside of a white circle, looking like military crates, and were filled with various ammunition, weapons, and armor. She took out a pair of leather shoulder pads and put them on before strapping a pocketed belt around her waist. Chloe emerged from the van in what appeared to be a full set of light military armor, holding a combat weapon.

“Hey, Max, check it out,” she said as she took a magazine from one of the boxes and loaded it into the weapon. “Combat shotgun, semi-automatic.” She noticed Max had a puzzled look on her face. “My dad… bought one of these before he was shipped to Anchorage,” she explained.

“Watch the kickback on that thing, Chloe,” Rachel said as she walked over to them, taking a pair of leather shin and wrist guards and a harness lined with ballistic fibers from one of the crates for herself before turning back to them and revealing two revolvers.

“Two revolvers?” Chloe asked.

Rachel shrugged. “Won’t hurt.”

“So… Max can pick them off at long range, Rachel’s got mid, and I’ll get them at close,” Chloe said as they approached the entrance of the museum.

“Sounds like a plan,” Rachel said, placing her hand on the handle and slowly opening the door, Max entering first. The ground floor of the building was wide open with several display cases either turned over or out of place, the sunlight coming in from the ceiling. There were also several doors that led to other rooms, but their attention was focused on a large staircase at the other side that led to the upper floors of the museum, and the two raiders that were heading up them.

“Hey!” Rachel yelled, but they shot back before she could pull the trigger, causing the three to hide behind one of the display cases. After a few seconds, she started to peek, but Max stopped her.

“Rachel, wait ‘til they have to reload,” she told her.

“Wow. Max with the assertiveness,” Chloe remarked.

Max just rolled her eyes.

The gunfire stopped briefly.

“Now?” Rachel asked.

“Now.”

Rachel peered out from behind the right side of the case and fired three shots, one of them hitting a raider in the leg, causing him to fall and drop his weapon. Max then looked over their cover, more words from her father playing in her mind. Always aim for the head. She pulled the trigger, landing a shot just above his left eye before focusing her attention on the raider on the floor. Two shots, both to the back, were enough to finish him off.

“I think it's clear,” she said as she walked out from behind the case.

“No time to waste then.” Chloe said. “Come on!”

They made their way up the stairs and arrived on a wooden balcony on the second floor of the museum, at the end the only doorway. They made their way over, hearing two more raiders talking inside.

“Come on, we should get out of here.”

“What the fuck are you, nuts? We go out there empty handed and Frank’s gonna have Damon skin us alive. We sit here and wait.”

They all stopped just outside of the doorway.

Max turned to the other two, “So, how do you wanna play this?”

“Like this, watch,” Chloe responded, entering the room.

“What the…”

“Fuck!”

Two gunshots rang out before Chloe appeared back at the doorway. “Room’s clear. Another stairway here, too.”

Max rolled her eyes. “I should’ve known.”

“You should be more careful,” Rachel remarked.

“Oh you’re one to talk, Rach.” Chloe smirked at her before making her way to the staircase. The stairway ended on another balcony, which led to a door at the end. The door had several bullet holes in it, with bodies scattered around the outside. Max stepped over them before rasing her fist to knock.

“Hey, it's us from outside,” she said. “Insides clear.”

The door opened, on the other side the same man from the balcony. He gestured to them to come in. The room appeared to be an office area, with two desks and a terminal and a few filing cabinets, with a few couches lined up against the wall. Someone was monitoring whatever was on the terminal screen. There were about five people in the room total, including the man at the door.

The man leaned up against one of the desks with his laser gun in his right hand. “Man, I don’t know who you three are, but your timing is impeccable.” He reached out his hand. “I’m Preston Garvey, with the Commonwealth Minutemen.”

Max shook his hand. “I’m Max. That’s Chloe and Rachel.”

“Hey,” Chloe said. Rachel just gave a wave of her hand.

“Nice to meet you all. We were really in a tight spot.”

“Couldn’t have used that laser gun of yours?” Chloe asked. “Looks like it can pack a mean punch. Or that stuff in the van?”

“I had to make sure everyone here was safe. They’ve been through enough as it is. Besides, they’re not trained with any of that stuff in the van. I’m guessing you three have some experience?”

“A little, but only with pistols,” Max said.

“Same here,” Rachel added.

“Do you really need experience with a shotgun?” Chloe asked.

Preston seemed baffled by the question. “I… guess not? Anyway, it’s nice to run into some people that care about others. We’ve been on the run for about a month now.”

“What happened?” Rachel asked.

“It all started back at Quincy. We were outnumbered, so we left for another settlement at Jamaica Plain. We were soon forced out of there by these same raiders. We eventually made our way up to Lexington, but ghouls forced us to come here.”

“Ghouls?” Max asked.

“You’ve… never seen a ghoul before?” Preston asked. “Where have you three been?”

“In a vault. We just got out yesterday,” Chloe responded.

“Well… that explains the vault suits. I guess this is a lot to take in, huh?”

“Kinda,” Rachel said before getting back to the original conversation. “What happened after Lexington?”

“Huh? Oh, right. We made our way here, but the raiders followed. They call themselves the Chemists, I guess because they have the market cornered on the Commonwealth chem dealers.”

“They’re after me, Preston. After the Sight,” one of the refugees said, an old woman wearing a pantsuit and turban.

“You see? Not only does she have crazy visions, but these raiders are after her,” another refugee said.

Preston turned to them. “That’s enough, Marcy. And Mama Murphy’s saved us once, remember?”

Marcy scoffed before walking to the other side of the room.

“Uh, Preston? Might wanna take a look at this.”

Max turned to look at the man at the terminal, who gestured at the screen, which was showing video footage of the street right outside the museum, where Max and the others came down from. There were about eleven raiders making their way down the road towards them, with one plated in heavy armor, leading them.

“What is it, Sturges?” Preston asked as he glanced at the terminal screen. “Shit. It’s Hank. I’m surprised Bowers didn’t send Damon, but I’m not complaining.”

“You know who they are?” Chloe asked.

“That’s Hank, the Chemist runner in this area and one of Bowers’ second in commands. They’re after Mama Murphy.” Preston turned to the three. “I know you helped us already, but we need you again. Please.”

“Uh, I dunno,” Max said, looking at the screen. “Looks like a lot of guys.”

“Wait, Sturges,” Preston said. “What about the power armor suit?”

“Power armor suit?” Chloe asked, intrigued.

“Sturges, tell ‘em.”

Sturges leaned against one of the desks. “You might’ve seen it from outside, but there’s a crashed vertibird on the roof and a full set of T-45b power armor. It has a fusion core in it, but it might be running low, so you may have to take the one from the generator back on the first floor. Oh, and there’s a minigun.”

“I’m in,” Chloe said. “Minigun and power armor.”

Sturges let out a little chuckle. “Thought you might. I got the radio on it working, so you can communicate. Here, take this transceiver.” He tossed the transceiver to Max before gesturing to the other side of the room. ”That door over there leads to a stairway to the roof.”

“I’ll get the fusion core from the ground floor, if you two want to head out,” Rachel offered.

“Sure, thanks Rach. C’mon Max.”

As Rachel went to retrieve the fresh fusion core, Max and Chloe made their way through the cramped staircase to the roof. Max opened the wooden door at the top. It gave a small creak as they stepped out onto the roof.

“Holy… shit…” Chloe gasped in amazement as she slowly spun around to take in the sight of Massachusetts.

“It’s… wow,” Max stuttered, taking in the view they had. To the south was the Boston skyline, the southwest a hazy greenish fog covered the land. Rolling hills were to the west, with trees everywhere. Though civilization was gone, the beauty of the natural landscape couldn’t be erased, even in the aftermath of nuclear fire.

“Ooh, there it is,” Max heard Chloe say, turning her attention from the view and back to the task at hand. She saw her friend racing to the set of power armor, next to it the aforementioned vertibird. Laying next to it was the minigun.

“Hey, I got the fusion core… woah. Nice view.”

“Yep. But here’s the real nice view,” Chloe said, walking around to the back of the power armor.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Rachel asked as Chloe went and twisted the valve on the back of the torso.

“I’ll be fine,” Chloe said as she stepped into the suit of power armor, closing up with a small hiss. She moved her arms and took a few steps around. “Aw, man, this is hella awesome!”

“How’s the fusion core charge?” Rachel asked.

“Uh, where do you see that… wait, never mind. It's at halfway.”

“Should last long enough. Then we can use this one for the suit you found back at the gas station”

“Nice thinking Rach. Oh-ho-ho, now the party’s getting started,” Chloe said, her voice distorted through the helmet. She picked up the minigun up off of the ground before heading to the north side of the building.

“If anyone tries to come up on you, I’ll tell you through the radio.”

“Cool. It’s a plan,” Chloe said before turning her attention to the main road below
them.

“Wait… Chloe?”

Chloe turned around. “Yeah, Max?”

“Just… be careful.”

“Always am. Eat lead, shit-for-brains!” she yelled, jumping off of the roof and landing onto the ground with a large thud. Max and Rachel heard the minigun speed up with a small hum before belching out bullets at the raiders. Though they were still far away, Max could see several bodies turning into a red paste smeared onto the asphalt. “Fuck yeah! This is awesome!” Chloe yelled over the transceiver.

“You should be down there. You two could cause a lot of destruction with two sets of power armor and mini guns,” Max said to Rachel as Chloe continued to wreak havoc on the raiders.

Rachel shrugged. “I think you two would be better with power armor. You’re both inseparable.”

The stream of bullets stopped. “Alright, all cleared out,” Chloe said over the transceiver.

“That’s it? None hiding anywhere?” Max asked.

“Nope,” she responded, sounding disappointed. She took a look around. “That was… uneventful. Alright, I’m heading back. See you inside.”

“We should probably go back inside, too,” Rachel suggested.

“Agreed.”

*****

Preston and the others were on the first floor when they made their way down from the roof. Chloe was inside, having already exited her power armor. “Wasn’t that hard,” she remarked. “I expected more of a fight.”

“Well… they’re not exactly known for their strategy. They usually just charge in head on,” Preston explained. He then pointed to a bench with various supplies. “Here, you should take that. I know there wasn’t a reward or anything… but after everything you did… you deserve something.”

“Uh, thanks,” Max said, the three walking over to inspect what they were given. “So, what is this stuff?”

“Three spare laser muskets, kind of like mine. All you do is crank the capacitor and fire. There’s also some stimpaks and caps.”

“Caps?” Chloe asked.

“Bottle caps. They’re… kind of like the unofficial currency of the Commonwealth… and… everywhere else… from what I’ve heard.”

“Thank you, but we didn’t help for a reward,” Max said.

“Oh,” Preston said, sounding surprised. “I’m just used to everyone being in it for themselves. You know, you remind me of my friends. The good guys. Anyway, thanks for the help.”

“So… what’s your plan now?” Rachel asked.

“We were… uh… going to head to a place Mama Murphy saw. A place called Sanctuary…”

“Hold on, hold on. We’re going to this place just because ‘Mama Murphy saw it?’”

“Marcy, please,” Preston pleaded. “It’s our best chance at surviving.”

“Our best chance at surviving is not heading to a place a crazy lady saw in one of her ‘visions.’”

“Now, now, hold on,” Sturges said, stepping in. “Anyone have a better idea? Anyone? No? Well, I guess Sanctuary it is.”

Preston turned to the three. “Have you heard of it?”

They all glanced at each other before Max explained, “Yeah. We… came from there. We found shelter there right after we emerged from the vault.”

“Oh. Well… I… hope you don't mind some new faces?”

“Not at all. It’d be good to have some allies here. If you want, we could escort you there,” Chloe offered.

“That would be nice. Thank you,” Preston said.

Chloe reentered her power armor, grabbing the minigun while Rachel took two of the laser muskets. Max took the remaining laser musket and the bag with stimpaks and caps before they all exited the museum.

*****

“Alright, here it is,” Chloe said, at the head of the group.

“Could use some work, but this place doesn’t seem too bad,” Preston said as they crossed the bridge into the little community.

“Yeah, this place seems pretty defendable,” Sturges said, walking over and inspecting the outside of one of the houses before turning to the three. “Anything left in any of these houses?”

“Uh, just some appliances and other junk. Nothing useful,” Chloe answered.

“Well, I could try and scrap those and other stuff around here for parts. With that small river there, I could get some running water going. Maybe even a few beds?”

“You can get us running water?” Rachel asked.

“Yep. With the right water purifier, it’ll be free of radiation. With some pipes and other things, I can get it to each individual house. And it can be hot.

“Can’t pass that up,” Chloe said.

“Thought so. I better get to work,” Sturges responded, entering one of the houses.

As Sturges went to work, Max looked around, feeling a slight sense of bliss as she saw Mama Murphy talking with Marcy and a man while Preston inspected the exterior of the houses. Rachel was by some more of the same plants they had seen right after they exited the vault. They had gotten rid of raiders, saved several people, and even made some allies in the process. Doing some good and hearing that others used to do the same made her feel better about their situation. It gave her hope that civilization would eventually return.

“Hey, Max, you good? You have a big smile on your face,” Chloe asked, exiting her power armor and putting a hand on her shoulder before giving her a look. “Thinking about me?”

“Huh?” It took her a little to figure out what she meant. “Oh… no, no. Just feeling good about Concord. We did good, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, we did do good. Let’s hope our luck holds up in case they decide to come back.”

Max fell silent. They had to fight today for the lives of others, and for theirs, and who knows what kind of dangers they would have to fight for in the future. The stakes were much higher now, and if they weren’t careful, one wrong move could have dire consequences.

“Max… I know you’re thinking about something,” Chloe said to her, being able to read her like a book. “And whatever it is, we’ll be fine. I’ve got you and Rachel. That’s all I need.”

Max looked up at her best friend, who was smiling at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back.

Chapter Text

By sundown, Sturges had been able to create a small water purifier and a pipeline into both of the houses on either side of the road when first crossing the bridge into Sanctuary, providing them with running water. Dinner again was Rachel’s stew, though smaller portions because of everyone from Concord, but food nonetheless. Sturges had also been able to fix together seven beds from the scrap left in Sanctuary, meaning that one bed had to bunk two. Chloe had offered to share hers with Max, who accepted. She was glad to have her best friend back in her life, despite the circumstances. They were always inseparable back in Arcadia Bay, and still are. She was also glad to have a restful night of sleep, feeling good after what they did in Concord. Before she knew it, the morning sun was shining through the window of the room. Still half asleep, she turned away from the window, rubbing her nose against-

“Uh, Max?”

Oh.

She sat up quickly, now wide awake and blushing before looking at her best friend, who was still laying down, smirking.

“Trying to show your gayness through physical contact, huh?”

“No! I… I was… wait. You… you,” Max began stuttering. ”You think I’m gay?”

She snickered. “No, of course not. I know you’re gay.”

“What are you two yelling about?” Rachel asked, walking into her room.

“Max has something she wants to say.” Chloe glanced at Rachel before looking back at her, still smirking. She started blushing.

“Oh?” Rachel asked, sitting down on one of the chairs in the room. “Has she finally come out to you?”

“Come out to you?” Max repeated, glancing back at Chloe, who started to blush… and slightly panic.

“Um… hey, Rachel? Is the shower free?” She asked, sitting up.

“Well, yeah. I just woke up, and…”

“Cool. See ya.” She rushed out of the room, leaving her and Rachel to discuss… whatever it was they were discussing.

Rachel got up and walked over to her, sitting beside her on the bed. “Hi, Max.”

“Hi,” was all she could respond with, still trying to wrap her head around what just happened.

“Hey, look,” Rachel said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I was just kidding about the whole ‘coming out’ thing.”

“No, I know.” She shook her head. “Just… I dunno.”

“You love her, don't you?”

Max felt her face heat up. “Uh… yeah… I do… I think. I mean, I’ve known her for my entire life. We were always together… but… I never really knew what it meant to like… anyone… let alone girls.”

“That’s precious,” Rachel said, her tone soft and warm. “She said pretty much the same thing whenever she talked about you. She knew that there was something between you two, but she didn’t want to push you. She was so excited to see you again on the way to the vault. Even with the imminent threat of… you know. We were sealed in those pod things, but it said that it was malfunctioning… or something… and it let both of us out. I told you we spent a while just waiting, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well… we explored the vault after that. It was just room after room of those pods. Chloe knew you had a spot somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where. We made our way into the… overseer room? That’s where we found the guns and a map of each of the pods and who was inside. You should’ve seen how she ran to your pod. And when you threw yourself into her, I never saw her more relieved… or happier. I knew you two were close, but seeing you two together… you’re made for each other.”

“Does… does Chloe… feel the same way?”

Rachel shook her head. “It’s… it’s not my place to answer. You have to ask her that.”

Max nodded. She was right.

Chloe came back a few seconds later. “Okay, I feel better. Showers free.”

“Dibs!” Rachel shouted, jumping up and running to the doorway, briefly flashing a smile at Max before she left, which just left her. And Chloe. In a towel. And nothing else.

Chloe sat down next to her on the bed, Max hoping to avoid their previous conversation before Chloe left. Fortunately, she didn’t bring it up.

“Hey Max. So, I don’t know if Rachel told you, but she talked to Preston last night, y’know, about the Minutemen he mentioned back at Concord?”

She breathed a small sigh of relief, Chloe not noticing. “Oh? She didn’t say anything. What about them?”

“Well, the basic rundown is that they help settlements when they need it, kind of like a local militia, but Commonwealth wide. They kind of fell apart a while ago. Rachel said that Preston didn’t give much detail about it, but we know the basic gist of what they do. Anyways, since we handled ourselves pretty decent back there, and with all the shit people and gangs Preston mentioned, I say we help bring them back to prominence.”

“You mean… like… policing the Commonwealth?”

“Well, yes and no. We’d start out by going around showing settlements that the Minutemen are back. Then, once we get enough support, we could have coverage over the entire Commonwealth. We wouldn’t really, y’know, bring law and order and everything, we’d just go around helping settlements whenever we’re needed.”

“Seems like a worthy cause.”

Chloe nodded. “Yeah, Rach and I said the same thing when we discussed it. We were thinking of telling Preston we‘d help out, but I wanted to get your take on it first before we decided.”

“Wait, where was I when you two were discussing it?”

“Out cold. I said we could talk about it in the morning. We should probably tell Preston we’re-”

A sudden knock at the front door interrupted her.

“I got it,” Chloe said as she got up, heading out to the hallway.

Max laid back down on the bed. She had avoided the awkward conversation about her being gay, but wondering if Chloe felt the same way that she did was bugging her. She knew she was going to bring it up eventually, but she wasn’t sure when to.

“Hey, Max?” Chloe said, appearing at the doorway.

She sat up. “Yeah?”

“You mind talking to Preston? He’s at the door and I’m… not really… dressed to be seen.”

“Yeah, sure thing.” She passed the bathroom on her left, hearing the shower running and Rachel whistling to what sounded like the tune of Wouldn’t It Be Nice, and on her right the three laser muskets they were given, as well as Chloe’s shotgun, leaned up against the wall. “Hey, Preston,” she said as she opened the door.

“Hi. Sorry I caught you three at a bad time.”

“It’s fine. What’s up?”

“When you’re all finished, I want you to meet me at the Red Rocket that we passed coming back here.”

Max seemed confused. “That’s it?”

“Yeah. I’ll explain over there.”

“Okay, I’ll tell the others.”

Preston nodded before walking towards the bridge heading out of Sanctuary.

“Y’know, we should really find something else to wear soon,” Max heard Chloe say as she shut the door. “So, what’d Preston want?”

“He uh… said to meet him at the Red Rocket. He said he’d explain why there.”

“Huh. We should probably get over there soon. Hey Rachel! You done?”

The bathroom door opened, Rachel coming out. “Yeah, I’m finished. Max, if you want to use the shower, go ahead.”

“Yes, thank you.” She rushed into the bathroom and shut the door before zipping down and taking off her vault suit, allowing her skin to breathe from the suit’s clingy material. She turned on the shower, the hot water feeling good on her skin. At least they had one of their creature comforts from before the war. After cleaning up, she dried off for a few minutes before pulling her jumpsuit back on, Rachel and Chloe already geared up when she came out of the bathroom.

“Max, here,” Chloe said as she tossed her pistol and ammo belt.

“Thanks Chloe.” She noticed the three laser muskets still leaning against the wall. “We’re not taking the laser muskets? What about the power armor?”

“We’re better with these guns. Besides, Sturges said the power armor has to be repaired,” Chloe answered.

“So, to the Red Rocket then?”

Chloe put a thumbs up. “Yep.”

*****

“Preston!” Chloe yelled with a wave of her hand as they approached the gas station.

Preston was standing outside. He waved back. “Hey. I’m guessing you’re wondering why I asked you here?”

“The thought came up, yeah.”

‘Well, there’s a detachment of Chemists close to this area, and they just attacked a settlement a few days ago. I received their message for assistance back at Concord and promised help, and since you three helped out, I… thought you could do this? I know we discussed you three helping out the Minutemen, and this could be the first step to bringing them back. We didn’t agree on anything, and if you don’t want to do this, I understand.”

“Actually,” Rachel started. “We were going to tell you that we’re on board.”

Preston seemed happy. “Good. Good. This is a step in the right direction for the Minutemen.” He walked around to the back of the building, gesturing to the others to follow before pointing at a bunch of utility pylon to the southwest. “The settlement is a little bit that way. It’s by one of those old prewar pylons. Can’t miss it.”

“We’re on it,” Chloe said. “Right Max?”

“Right,” Max responded with a smile.

“When you’re finished, come back here. We’ll talk about what to do next.”

“Sounds good,” Rachel said before they set off.

“I still say we find a vehicle and at least attempt to fix it. I’m not going to walk everywhere.”

“Chloe, we’ve been walking for like five minutes.”

“Oh, come on, Rachel. You don't think if we had something like my truck back at Arcadia Bay everything would be a little bit easier?”

“You bought a truck, Chloe?”

“She didn’t buy it, she found it in the junkyard north of town and somehow got it working.”

Chloe shot a look at her. “Thank you Rachel. And didn’t we plan on leaving Arcadia Bay with it?”

“Yeah. What’s your point?”

“So why not get a vehicle now? If I could get that old thing working, we could get one working now. It’d help a lot with moving around everywhere.”

“Hey, knock yourself out.”

They were soon able to see each entire pylon, Max looking around to find the one with the settlement as Chloe and Rachel continued to bicker over whether or not to find and attempt to get a vehicle working. The settlement was hard to miss. It was a large wooden building, definitely built by hand, that was constructed right underneath one of the giant pylons. A fence ran around the building and the crops they were growing, looking like corn and the fruit like things they had seen right after they got out of the vault.

“Hey,” Max said, pointing to the pylon directly in front of them. “There it is.”

“See Chloe? Not so bad.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Still say we should find a vehicle.”

As they approached the fence, a bearded man stepped out of the building, holding a crudely built pistol. “That’s close enough strangers. We’re a peaceful farm. We don’t want any trouble.”

Rachel turned to them. “Let me do the talking. Hey, hey, we’re not here to take anything from you.” She slowly approached the gate of the fence, the others following close behind. “We’re with the Minutemen. We’re here to help.”

The man slowly lowered his gun. “We sent word out, but never really expected an answer. So the Minutemen are making a comeback?”

“We’re working towards it, yeah.”

“Well, if that’s true, it’d make around here a lot safer. We were attacked a few days ago by those damn Chemists. My daughter, Mary, tried to stand up to them. One of their leaders… Damon, I think… he just… shot her. Not even hesitating.”

“Oh. I’m… I’m sorry.”

“What’s worse is that they stole her locket from us, too. It means a lot to our family, and we’d be grateful if you could get it back for us.”

“Of course. Where do you think we’ll find it?”

“There’s a satellite tower a little to the northeast of Concord. That’s where they were coming from, and it should be there.”

“Okay. We’ll get it back for you.”

“Thank you,” the man said, smiling at them before turning around to head back inside.

Rachel turned to face the others, Chloe having a wide smirk on her face.

She sighed. “Alright, when we’re done, we can look for a vehicle.”

Chloe made a sarcastic gasp before smiling again. “Is Rachel Amber admitting someone else is right?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, come on. Let's get this done.”

“Hey, Max, what kind of vehicle do you think we should get?” Chloe called out to her about ten minutes later as they crossed the road they took into Concord the previous day. “Max?” she asked again before looking behind her, realizing she was lagging behind.

Rachel noticed too. “She okay?”

Chloe shrugged. “Dunno. Keep going, I’ll talk to her.”

As Rachel went on, Chloe slowed down, allowing her to catch up. “Hey, Max, you doing okay?”

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I’m fine.”

She didn’t buy it. “No you’re not. Something's up. Is this the whole ‘you being gay’ thing? Because if it is, I wasn’t being completely serious, even though-”

“I love you, Chloe!” she blurted out before staring at the ground, blushing. “I loved you since I was like ten… and I never told you because…I was afraid of screwing up. I didn’t know if you… felt the same way… and…”

She was interrupted by Chloe stepping closer and kissing her briefly before pulling away.

“That answers your question?”

“Yes,” Max said before Chloe pulled her back for round two. She felt like they could go on for hours, but they were interrupted.

“I hate to stop you two,” Rachel interrupted, causing them to break away and look at her, both of them red. “But it’s just up ahead.”

“Alright. We should probably get this done. Come on, Max,” Chloe said, putting an arm around her waist.

They approached the satellite station the man back at the farm had mentioned, but it seemed quiet. Way too quiet.

“Didn’t that guy say there were raiders here?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah, but it looks like… they were cleaned out.” Rachel said, pointing to a dead pair of raiders laying on the ground by the entrance gate.

As they walked around the inside of the fence, they found more dead raiders. A few had burn holes, another had a bullet hole in the forehead.

“I'm going to go up the tower, see what’s up there.”

“Be careful, Rach.” Chloe said.

She smirked. “Always am.”

“Come on Max. Let's keep looking around down here.”

Max stood at the entrance of the makeshift wooden building that was underneath the satellite tower, noticing a dead raider laying in front of the doorway without his head.

“Uh… lucky shot?” Max asked, looking at the decapitated raider.

“What? Oh, that. Uh… nope.” Chloe said, standing at the entrance. She looked around, something catching her eye. “Max, look at this. Max. Maaaaaax,” Chloe said, taking a stick laying on the ground and poking Max in the back end, getting her attention.

“Huh? What the… Chloe!” Max said, turning around.

Chloe smirked. “What? It looks good.”

Max rolled her eyes. “Perv. Now what’d you want to show me?”

“This,” Chloe said, taking the stick and pointing at a head on the ground.

Max took a look at it. “Are you… sure that’s the one?”

“Well, there’s no other bodies with missing heads. Looks like this just happened.”

“Could whoever did this… still be here?”

“Dunno. Rach! Did you find that locket?”

“Still looking!”

“Who do you think did this?” Max asked.

Chloe shrugged. “Well, from the looks of it, I’d say a couple of professionals. I mean, clean headshots, laser weapons, a… decapitated head.”

Rachel came walking down the ramp. “Nope. Just more dead bodies. Looks like it just happened.”

“Yeah, that's what I said to Max.”

She nodded before glancing at the decapitated head that was laying on the ground. “So… bullets, lasers, and now a melee weapon?”

“Seems that way.”

“Well, whoever did it could still be-”

Gunshots erupted from the inside of the concrete bunker nearby.

“-here.” Rachel looked at Max and Chloe. “Think it's them?”

“Only one way to find out,” Chloe said, walking over to the entrance to the bunker and opening the door to the inside.

“Chloe, are you sure about this?” Max asked her.

“Of course, she replied with a smile. “Now come on.”

They descended down the stairs into the bunker. The gunfire stopped.

“Think it’s done?” Rachel asked.

“Maybe. But we should still be careful,” Max replied.

The inside of the bunker was cool and damp, though it was more tolerable than the sun beating down on them back outside. As they turned the corner after coming off of the stairs, a desk and terminal, three more dead raiders and a large splatter of blood on the wall greeted them.

Max gagged. “Ugh… gross.”

Chloe went up to the splatter on the wall and put a finger on it. “Yep. Just happened.”

“Ew! Chloe!”

She turned around, taking her finger off of the wall, dripping red. “What? Rachel doesn’t mind,” she said, holding out her red finger to Rachel.

She took a step back and put her hands up. “Don’t… try it.”

Chloe rolled her eyes as she wiped her finger on her jumpsuit. “Whatever. Come on, we should find that locket,” she said, walking over and through the doorway just behind the desk. “Where the hell is-”

A single gunshot pierced the silence.

“-everyone?” Chloe walked over to the open door to the left of them. She put her back to the wall, gun in hand, and gestured to the other two to do the same.

“Chloe, what’s going…” Max began.

“Shh! I think they’re in there,” Chloe whispered.

A dog started growling.

“Uh oh,” they all said.

“Chloe,” Rachel began, “I know what you’re thinking, don’t-”

She turned and aimed the gun in the room. But instead of finding a vicious attack dog, there was a dog sitting on the other side, mouth wide open and tail wagging.

“What the hell…” Chloe said, entering the room and reaching out her hand to the dog. It laid down and rolled over on its back.

“So much for an attack dog,” Max remarked as her and Rachel entered.

A man suddenly emerged from behind a wall in the room. He looked at the dog. “Really, Dogmeat? Cozying up to strangers now, are we?”

“Who are you?” Chloe asked, aiming her shotgun at him.

The man took a laser musket off of his back and aimed it at her in response. “Who are you?” he asked.

Max put a hand on her pistol, but didn’t draw it… yet. Other than the laser musket, she noticed he also carried a chest holster with a .44 revolver, and some sort of scabbard on his right, along with a small satchel on his left.

“I asked you… wait. Why are you holding it with your left hand?”

“Why is that the first thing everyone notices?” He slung the laser musket back on his shoulder before drawing his sword. “Hey, I’m holding my sword with my left hand too! Gonna go and point that out?” He took a few steps towards Chloe, pointing it at her, causing Max and Rachel to draw their guns. “Now. Who the fuck are you?”

Max spoke up. “We’re with the Minutemen.” It wasn’t a lie; they were, but she mentioned the Minutemen because he had a laser musket, hoping it would diffuse the tension.

“Minutemen…” he said as he sheathed his sword. “Thought after Quincy the Minutemen were over.”

“Well, they’re making a comeback,” Chloe said, lowering her weapon, the others doing the same. “So… who are you?”

“Well, I guess an introduction should be in place…” the man said, taking his laser musket off of his back, placing it on the ground and leaning on it. “J.D, former minuteman and now, Commonwealth wanderer, I guess. And that’s Dogmeat.” He pointed at the dog, who went and laid down in front of him.

“That’s really your name?” Rachel asked.

He shrugged. “Eh. The way I see it, my parents just pulled two random letters out of their asses, slapped them on mine, and said, ‘here world, take this.’ I’m joking, of course. And you three are?”

“Rachel. That’s Chloe and Max.”

“Well, be glad I’m not hostile, otherwise you’d end up like all those bodies outside.”

“You took out all of them single handedly?”

“Surprised?”

“A little bit.”

“So… why are the Minutemen out here?”

“We’re here to retrieve a locket. It… means a lot to the family that owns it,” Max said.

“Locket…” he said, reaching into his black trench coat, pulling out one. “Something like this?”

She took a quick glance at it. “Think so. Why do you have it?”

“I overheard the idiots outside mention it was valuable. Figured I could sell it Diamond City… but I guess that’s not what they meant by valuable.”

“Diamond City?” Chloe asked.

“I’ll explain everything, but let’s get out of here first.”

“So… that’s all you were doing here? Looking for the locket?” Rachel asked as they returned back to the room with the terminal.

“Well… yeah, basically. I was only in that room because one of them was trying to radio in help. Hopefully, it didn’t…”

“Come on. Let’s see the damage done down here,” a voice said, coming down the stairs.

“…get through. Fuck. Get back, get back,” J.D. said, pushing them back against the wall. They were able to hear their conversation.

“Did you hear something?” the same voice said.

“No,” another responded.

“What about you?”

“Nope. Pretty sure you’re hearing things.”

“See? I’m not the only one that thinks you have a problem.”

“At least my problem isn’t refusing to shoot a gun in self defense.”

“You little…”

“Hey, bickering imbeciles. Can you two shut the fuck up and concentrate on the task at hand? Look at this.”

“What? It’s a blood splatter.”

“Yeah, and it’s fresh. Which means whoever did this is still here.”

J.D. took his revolver out from his holster and pulled back the hammer back before drawing his sword.

“What’re you doing?” Chloe asked.

“Watch,” he responded as he left from the wall, Dogmeat close behind him.

A growl and two gunshots quickly followed. Max poked her head out from behind the wall to see a sword being thrusted into a raider’s head at the neck before being violently pulled out. She saw him take out a rag and wipe off the blade, sheathing it before turning around and looking back at her.

“Coast is clear.” He motioned with his arm to come out of cover.

“Jeez, man. You’re ruthless,” Chloe said, eyeing the body that the sword was shoved in to.

He just shrugged. “Don’t get on my bad side, you won’t end up like them. Come on, you should probably return the locket now.”

As they ascended up the stairs back out to the Wasteland, J.D. stopped at the top of the steps. “Huh.”

“What?” Max asked.

“No vehicle. Probably just a recon team in the vicinity. Thank god.”

“Couldn’t you take them on if there were more?” Chloe gestured to the dead bodies on the ground. “You took them out, didn’t you?”

“That’s different. These were just normal raiders. Then there’s the convoy. Several APCs filled with the best and brightest…as bright as any raider can get… and they’re ruthless. No way in hell am I taking them on.”

*****

The trip back to Abernathy Farm was awkwardly quiet for about ten minutes before Max finally broke the silence. “So… what’s your story?” she asked him.

“Well,” J.D. began, “I started to help the Minutemen in… late ‘85, I think? I dunno. I was coming out of a… real shit state… then I found Dogmeat here with a Minutemen squad. Long story short, I offered assistance, which was greatly required, Quincy happened, and we set out on our own. Again.”

“So, you were born here?” Rachel asked.

“Nope. Born in Rivet City in the Capital Wasteland.”

“Rivet City? Capital Wasteland?” Max questioned.

“The Capital Wasteland is… well, was… what was it called… D.C?”

“How the hell'd you make your way up here?”

“Again, I’ll explain everything, but can we focus on the task at hand? Thank you. Now, hopefully these settlers will… wait, stop.”

“What?” Chloe asked, confused.

“That,” J.D. said, pointing at a bush with indigo flowers. “A hubflower plant. I’ve been looking for one of those for a while.”

“So you collect flowers?” Rachel asked.

He looked at Rachel. “Well…kind of… not exactly. Over the years I’ve found that a lot of these mutated plants, like the bloodleaf, provide some sort of… regenerative properties. I’ve never had the opportunity to use a hubflower, though, and I’ve finally found one.” He turned back to look at the hubflower plant and saw Dogmeat sniffing at it. He lifted his leg. “No, Dogmeat! Don’t-”

Too late.

“-take… a piss on the plant.” As he finished his sentence, Dogmeat finished relieving himself before coming up to J.D. and sitting in front of him, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.

“Oh, what am I going to do with you,” J.D. said as he petted Dogmeat. “Alright, let’s carry on.”

“You’re not going to take the plant?” Chloe asked.

He looked at her for a few seconds before responding. “Are you nuts? Even if I was desperate to use one, I wouldn’t take it since Dogmeat did his business on it. Besides, there’s probably more plants out there then in the that…” he trailed off.

“You okay?” Rachel asked.

He just shook his head no.

As they made their way back through Concord, Dogmeat began to bark, standing in front of the Museum of Freedom.

“Aw, fuck,” J.D. groaned, taking the laser musket off of his back and cranking up the capacitor until it was glowing a bright red.

“What does he see?” Max asked.

“Nothing good, that's what. Dogmeat, come here,” he called to the German shepherd, whistling three quick times, Dogmeat racing back to him. “Alright, boy, point it out.” He looked at the space between the museum and the chapel on the other side of it, a bright light suddenly becoming noticeable. “Sniper, get down!” J.D. yelled, diving onto the asphalt.

Max and the others took cover behind the steps of the museum, but no gunshot rang out. Instead, the light flashed, like a camera taking a picture. A figure then peeked its head out from the other side of the museum.

“Hey!” J.D. yelled, taking his laser musket and firing a shot at the figure, but missing. The figure then ran across the street to the buildings on the other side. He threw his laser musket on the ground, drawing his sword and chasing after it, disappearing behind the buildings for about a minute before coming back out.

“Who was it?” Rachel asked, coming out from behind the steps.

“I… I… I don’t know. He just… disappeared.”

“Disappeared how?” Chloe questioned. “There’s no way anyone can just… vanish.”

“Yeah… but a stealth boy…” J.D. began before shaking his head. “... no, it would’ve worn off by now. That’s… weird.”

As he stood in thought, Max picked up his laser musket before reaching it out to him. “Thanks, Max… Max, right?” he asked, taking it from her.

She nodded.

“Cool. You three are going to have to lead on from here, ‘cause I have no idea where we’re going.”

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the hill by the outside the gates of the farm.

“You three go on ahead,” J.D. said, taking the locket from his coat and tossing it at Max.

The same man that greeted them when they first came was outside.

“Hey,” Max called to them, holding the locket in her hand. “We’ve got your locket.”

“You do?” the man said, walking over to the fence as Max held out her hand to him with the locket. “Oh, man. Connie’s going to be speechless,” he said as he took it from her. “Thank you for getting it back to us.”

“Glad to help.”

“We appreciate it a lot. And we’ve decided to support the Minutemen. We want to take your gesture and pay it forward.”

After exchanging some information, they set on back to the Red Rocket. Preston came out to meet them.

“Hey, you three. I’m guessing you… J.D…”

“Preston…” he said, turning to the three. ”I guess that’s why Dogmeat didn’t attack you. He picked up his scent.”

“So...” Chloe began.

“I’ll explain everything, but excuse me for a minute,” J.D. said, walking out of sight on the other side of the building.

Preston and the others went inside.

“So… you’ve met him.”

“Yeah… how come you didn’t mention him?” Chloe asked.

Preston shrugged. “It never really dawned on me. Honestly, I didn’t know anyone else got out of Quincy alive other than the group I was leading.”

One of the sliding doors opened. “Okay. So, I’m guessing you three still want an explanation?”

They all nodded.

“Well, sit down. It’s gonna take a while.”

Chapter Text

They were gathered around the Red Rocket’s dining area, having listened to J.D’s story in the Capital Wasteland for the past half hour.

“So let me get this straight,” Chloe began. “You were born in an aircraft carrier from around our time?”

J.D. nodded. “Yeah. Rivet City. It was… wait. Your time?”

“We didn’t tell you?”

“Tell what?”

“We were in a vault for 200 years.”

He eyed each of them. “Well… that explains the vault suits. Where’s the vault?”

“Vault 111? Up the road.” Max said, pointing north. “In Sanctuary Hills. Didn’t you see the numbers on the back?”

“No, I didn’t. Huh. Vault 111… Sanctuary Hills… those names ring a bell for some reason. Anyway, that’s really… wow. So you three are actually from before the war?”

They all nodded.

“Hmm. Interesting. So, yeah. I was born inside of a two century old rust bucket.”

“Then this Brotherhood of Steel came along and you joined?”

“Kind of. I was screwing around with a few rusted laser rifles and somehow got them working. They seemed impressed by it, and they offered to recruit me. I saw an opportunity to leave, so I took it. Nothing was left for me in Rivet City.”

“Then after you joined, this Maxson guy took charge and you decided to head north?”

He sighed, “Yeah. About a year or so later. He was turning the Brotherhood back to their western ways, of preserving technology and keeping it out of the wrong hands instead of using the technology they had to help people like Elder Lyons did.”

“So, what happened after that?” Rachel asked.

“Well, I figured I could do more good on my own, so I took my set of T-51 power armor and gatling laser and high tailed out of there. I… headed north and eventually made my way through Philadelphia and some groups around the area. I joined and left a few before I found another group of people. Four others. We each had wildly different personalities but had the same ideals. We bonded quickly and started to travel together. We eventually made our way up to New York… but… shit happened. I eventually made my way up here after that and joined the Minutemen.”

“Wait, what happened?” Max asked.

J.D. was hesitant to answer. “Stuff. I don’t want to talk about it,” he eventually replied before changing subjects. “Garvey, the Minutemen still don’t have the Castle back?”

Preston shook his head. “Nope. As far as I know, it's still overrun.”

“Wait, wait. Castle?” Chloe asked, intrigued yet again.

“Not really a Castle,” J.D. explained. “The Minutemen were originally headquartered at a place called Fort Independence, a fort from even before the war, but it's known as the Castle now.”

“Oh, I’ve been there. It overlooks Boston harbor,” Max said.

“I’m sure it was in better condition back then,” J.D. muttered. “Unfortunately, the Minutemen lost the Castle back in 2240, years before even I was around.

“Damn. We sure missed a lot,” Chloe remarked.

“Damn straight. So how’re you three adjusting to the wasteland?”

“Best as we can, seeing as how there's tons of weird shit out there,” Rachel replied, looking out one of the Red Rocket’s windows. “Those… ghoul… things, that flash of light in Concord…”

“Light at Concord?” Preston asked.

“There was some sort of flash behind the side of the museum. Then some figure came out and ran across the road.”

“What was it?”

“Damned if I know, Garvey. But hey, there’s still weirder shit than all that. For example, have you ever seen a deathclaw?”

“A what?” Max asked.

“Thought so. A deathclaw is like… uh… from what I read from Brotherhood observations, they’re supposedly mutated from chameleons. They’re like eight feet tall and tough as fuck.”

“How tough are we talking here?” Chloe asked, folding her hands.

“Tough that even an idiot in power armor, a pyromaniac, a stick, a fatass, and a chemhead had one helluva time killing it.”

“What?”

“My… old group I mentioned before. I don’t want to talk about it.”

Max’s nosiness was starting to take over. “Why not?”

He put a hand to his head. “I… I just don’t want to, Max. I’d prefer it if we never speak of it again.”

“But…”

He took about a dozen small red circles out of a pocket, sliding them over in front of where Max was sitting. “Stop talking. Please.”

She took a glance at the circles, seeing the distinct Nuka Cola written in white letters on each of them. “Caps?”

“Yeah,” he said, picking one up and holding it up to the light, acting as if he was examining a bill for authenticity. He laughed. “They’re being used as currency. Fucking currency! I mean, who in their right mind is carrying around dozens, or more, of these things?” He slowly lowered his hand at the realization, his eyes looking at the bottle caps on the table before turning his focus to her. “Okay… never mind that. Just… don’t ask anything about-”

He was interrupted by Dogmeat barking outside.

“What the hell…” J.D. got up from the counter, unslinging his laser musket before running out the door. “Dogmeat! What’re you barking at?”

They all watched him leave before turning to each other.

“What the hell was that about?” Chloe asked.

“Don’t… bring up his time in New York,” Preston explained. “He hates talking about it.”

“Why?”

He shrugged. “Beats me, Rachel. I’ve tried a few times, and he always clams up. If you can get him to talk, by all means, go for it.”

“Garvey,” J.D. said, poking his head through the door opening next to the garage, “It’s Sturges. He wants to talk to you.”

“Okay.” Preston stood up and walked over to the door before turning to the three. “You might want to come see this.”

“Uh, Preston,” Chloe said, standing at the doorway to the garage from the inside, “you know there’s another set of power armor in here, right?”

“There is?” he said, poking his head inside. “No, I didn’t. Is there a fusion core in it?”

“No. Unfortunately.”

“Well, it’ll still help the Minutemen in the future if we can get other settlements… oh, right. I didn’t get the chance to ask. How’d helping the settlement go?” Preston asked as they began the walk back to Sanctuary.

“Settlement helped,” Rachel said. “They’re on our side.”

Preston smiled. “Good. I’m glad. The Minutemen are really making a comeback.”

“You had your doubts?” Chloe asked.

He sighed. “I did. The Minutemen were already falling apart, though our last leader, General Becker, was able to keep a lid on most of it for a while. After he died, it was just one big downward spiral, and Quincy was like the nail in the coffin. But now, with you three, and with J.D. back, the Minutemen do have another chance. And once we get enough settlements united, we’ll be in a good position to finally retake the Castle.”

“How would we be able to get there? It’s like twenty-some miles from here,” Max asked. “It’d take days to get there on foot.”

“That’s what I wanted to show you,” Preston replied as they came up to the statue right outside of Sanctuary. And on the other side of the road, an APC.

“Sturges!” Preston shouted.

“No fuckin’ way,” Chloe muttered.

Sturges appeared from behind the front right side of the APC, giving a wave of his hand before walking towards them. “Hey. Preston, did you tell them?”

“Not yet.” He turned to them. “While you were off helping that settlement, Sturges and I were discussing how to get around the Commonwealth other than by walking. The Minutemen faced that problem before, and we want to take care of it now before we start expanding further. This is how we’re going to do it.”

“So we’ll have our own military vehicle?” she asked, intrigued.

“Yep,” Sturges said. “As far as I can tell, there’s no serious damage to any of its systems. Weapon systems look fine too. J.D’s looking at the power, and once we know that’s good, this baby will be good to-”

“Fuck!” J.D. yelled, followed by a clang of metal on the asphalt. He emerged from the right rear side of the vehicle a few seconds later before approaching them. “You want the good news or the bad news?”

“What were you doing to it?” Sturges asked.

“Bad news it is. That thing needs three fusion cores to work.”

“And… what’s the good news?”

“You already got two fusion cores. Fortunately, they got enough power. One’s at 92, the other 95. All you gotta do is find a third.”

“We actually have another one. In that power armor suit,” Chloe said.

“What’s its charge?”

“Half… I think?”

J.D. shook his head. “Not gonna do. For that to function properly, all three cores have to have a charge of at least 90 or higher to get it going. If they aren’t, then it won’t properly start up.”

“Well, a third one can’t be that hard to come by, can they? The military had them in abundance back before… everything,” Max said.

He glared at her, tilting his head and giving her a dumbfounded look. “When did you get out of that vault again?”

“Three… days ago?” She looked at Rachel and Chloe for clarification, both of them nodding.

“Okay… I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt, but no, they’re not that easy to come by. Any that are left are probably at some military checkpoints or, if you’re really fucking desperate, you can scrounge up 1100 caps for a single one.”

“They’re how much?” Chloe asked.

“I know, it’s a lot. Honestly, your best bet is either scavenging through the vault or going out and looking for one. Sturges, if you want help with the interior?”

“I would, thanks.” Sturges and J.D. disappeared into the APC’s interior.

“You three can figure out how to get another fusion core. I’m going to head back to the Red Rocket and see if it’ll be a good settlement spot,” Preston said before walking back down the road.

“So where the hell are we going to get another fusion core?” Chloe asked.

“Didn’t you two already scavenge the vault?”

“No,” Rachel said. “We only took the pistols and a couple of stimpaks.”

“Well, if we wanted, we could always… wait. What about that spare fusion core we got from the Museum of Freedom? Wasn’t that one at full charge?” Max recalled.

“Spare fusion core… holy shit, I forgot about that. Nice thinking, Maximus,” Chloe said, ruffling her hair.

“I’ll go get it,” Rachel offered. “You should probably tell J.D. that we’ve got a third.”

“Will do. Thanks, Rach.”

As Rachel crossed the bridge into Sanctuary to grab the fresh fusion core, Chloe and Max approached the ramp of the APC.

“J.D, driving controls look good.”

“Good. The terminal here works too.”

“Hey, J.D,” Max said from the ramp while Chloe gave Dogmeat a couple of scratches, “we have a spare fusion core from Sanctuary.”

“Nice. Always keep a spare one somewhere,” he said, looking away from the terminal. “Where is it?”

“Rachel’s getting it.”

“Alright. Before I show you how to work this thing, you mind plugging in that Pip-Boy to the terminal?”

“Uh, sure.” She walked over and drew out the Pip-Boy’s chord, plugging it into the space directly above the terminal, Downloading appeared on both screens.

[RobCo Industries™ downloading data 22%]

[37%]

[46%]

[59%]

[72%]

[86%]

[RobCo Industries™ download complete]

“Nice. Since these things are both made by RobCo, they’ll…”

“Share data?” Chloe finished his sentence.

“Bingo. Just make sure to update it regularly.”

“Got the fusion core,” Rachel said, standing at the bottom of the ramp. She tossed it at them. “J.D, here.”

“Wha- oh! Got it, thanks. Excuse me,” he said, leaving the inside.

“Damn. Not bad,” Rachel remarked as she walked up the ramp into the interior.

“I know, right? An actual military vehicle! Now we’re unstoppable!”

“Wouldn’t go that far, Chloe,” J.D. cautioned as he walked back in and over to the driving controls. “Come on, I’ll show you how to start it up. Sturges, you mind checking the radio by the terminal?”

“Sure thing.”

As Sturges fiddled with the radio, they walked towards the front.

“Okay. We’re all ears,” Rachel said.

“Alright. Now if I remember correctly…”

A few button pushes later and the APC’s lights and engine turnd on.

“Heh. I still got it,” J.D. said before powering it down.

“Dude, why’d you turn it off?” Chloe asked.

“Because this thing takes a lot of power after sitting dormant for centuries. Once you need to use it, just power it back on. You were paying attention to how I started it up, right?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Okay. Now, over here…” he moved to the passenger side, “is where you control the guns. You got two .50 cal machine guns sticking out on the front, which are controlled by these joysticks. Now, the big gun on top, the 25mm autocannon, is controlled by this little screen. Got it?”

They all nodded.

“So… two machine guns and an autocannon? And we’re not unstoppable?”

“Nope. Not even with 8mm of armor. Find a tank, then you’ll be unstoppable. And take advantage of that autocannon. That thing’ll shred through most things out there.”

Static suddenly started coming in through the radio.

“Uh… Sturges? You good?”

“Yeah. Everything’s fine on our end. It’s either the radio in Sanctuary or the one in the Red Rocket. You mind going to Sanctuary and changing frequencies?”

“Sure thing. Dogmeat, come on!” J.D. called to the dog as he walked down the ramp.

“Hello? Sturges? J.D? Is this coming through?”

“We hear you Preston,” Chloe said, taking the microphone. “What’s up?”

“Oh, hey, you three. I got another call coming in. From a settlement called Tenpines Bluff. I think it should appear on the APC terminal. I know you already helped out one today, but…”

“We got it, Preston. It’s no problem,” Chloe said.

“Is this the right frequency?”

“You got it,” Chloe said.

“Okay, good. And if another call comes up after, Preston and I can get it. Gives you three a break,” J.D. said from Sanctuary’s radio.

“That works. Thanks you three.”

“Sure thing,” Chloe said before hanging the microphone back on the wall.

“I’ll leave you three to take care of it,” Sturges said before leaving.

“Hey, Rach, you mind pulling up the map on the terminal?”

“Will do.”

“Max, walk me through this again,” Chloe said, sitting down in the driver's seat and pointing to one of the buttons. “This starts it up?”

She walked over to her, looking over her shoulder at the dashboard. “Uh, yes.”

“And this routes the power to the main engine?”

“Yes.”

“And you know how to work the guns in case we run into any shit?”

“I got it, Chloe.”

“And when we’re finished, you’re going to eat me out?”

“Yeah… wait.” Her face turned red. “Chloe!”

She leaned back in her chair, giggling.

“Mind if we talk about how to celebrate after we get the job done?”

Chloe composed herself. “Sure thing, Rachel. You got the map pulled up yet?”

“Yeah. It says to head through Concord and take the same road we took coming back from that satellite station for about… two miles, then head north.”

“Got it. We all ready?”

“I’m ready.”

“Max?”

She glanced at Rachel and Chloe before looking out in front of them. “Let’s go.”

The back ramp closed with a hiss, followed by the revving sound of the engine. The vehicle lurched forward, making its way down the road into Concord. Max sat down and leaned back in her chair, ready for another adventure.

*****

J.D. walked across the bridge from Sanctuary, Dogmeat at his side. He was examining his revolver, the events of that day playing through is head.

”Go! Go! Go!”

“Tank!”

“More raiders!”

“We’re surrounded!”

“Through this alley!”

He could still hear the shell exploding, tearing apart two of them.

”Shit! No!”

“I’ll hold them off! Go!”

“I’m not leaving you here!”

“Go!”

“Ah! Fuck!”

“Oh, shit…”

“I think we’re in the clear.”

“You are…”

“Oh no. No, no, no…”

“Go… leave…”

“I’m not leaving you here!”

The revolver was shoved into his hand.

“Carry on…”

“Fuck…” he muttered under his breath, returning the revolver to his chest holster before coming across the Red Rocket again. He opened the door to the garage. “Hey, Preston.”

He looked up from the power armor. “Hey J.D. What’s up?”

“Got any free time for some hunting?”

“Sure,” Preston replied, walking away from the power and grabbing his gun. “Other than that one call, the radio’s been quiet.”

“Alright,” J.D. said, unslinging his laser musket. “The forest on the other side of the road should have a decent amount of wildlife.”

“Nice. What kind of wildlife are we hunting? Mole rats? Brahmin?”

“Eh, more like radstags. Figured they’d be the best to cook. Together with some plants out here, it’ll make a great meal for tonight.”

“That’d be nice. We’ve been surviving on prewar food ever since Quincy.”

“Damn, that shits. How’d you get out anyway?” he asked as they crossed the road into the forest.

“You know the vans we arrived in at Quincy? Well, about two other Minutemen helped load in supplies and around 20 survivors before we started on… what is it… I-93… I think. We made our way to Jamaica Plain through some side roads before holding out there for a few days. The Chemists followed. We lost a van and about four survivors. Everyone that was left just piled into the remaining van, and soon we were on the run again. Somehow, we made it to Lexington, but it was infested with ghouls. We lost another six before fleeing to Concord. Our numbers were down to five before those three showed up.”

“Shit, Garvey. I had no idea.”

“Yeah. It was tough… but we came through. What happened to you? How’d you get out of the city?”

“Uh,” he began, gripping his laser musket tighter, “I headed north to the Quincy Bay after everything went to shit before making my way through the heart of Boston and taking a few days of rest in Diamond City. After that, I just wandered around with Dogmeat for a while before trailing a group of Chemists to that satellite station. They mentioned something about a valuable locket, and I figured I could get a couple caps for it back in Diamond City before the three of them showed up. I was surprised that the Minutemen name had survived.”

“I hope it's not just the Minutemen name that survived, but the idea too.”

“Garvey, with me, you, and it seems the other three, the Minutemen are guaranteed to make a comeback. Now if we can fix up some other vehicles…” he was interrupted by Dogmeat growling.

“Up ahead.” Preston pointed to a radstag doe in the middle of the forest, one of its heads down, eating something off of the ground. Both he and J.D. knelt, cranking their laser muskets three times before aiming them.

“You take the head on our left, I’ll take right. On my signal. One… two…”

Both heads suddenly looked up, seemingly startled by something, followed by a loud roar and the snapping of tree branches.

“What the…”

“Yao Guai!” J.D. yelled, pointing at the bear that was charging them. Both of them discharged their muskets, making the bear flinch before they each took cover behind separate trees. “Garvey! Cover me!”

Preston cranked his laser musket until it was at max, taking another shot at the mutated creature. J.D. unholstered his revolver, taking a shot at the animal before Dogmeat ran at it, biting its left leg. The bear shook him off, throwing him against a tree, giving J.D. time to fire two more shots into it. The animal staggered back before standing on its hind legs, roaring. Seeing an opportunity, J.D. unsheathed his sword and charged it, thrusting it up through the bear’s throat, killing it. He pulled it out, the animal falling dead on its side onto the forest floor.

“Shit. Wasn’t expecting that,” Preston said, coming out from behind a tree.

J.D. sheathed his sword. “Yeah. that thing just fucking appeared,” he said, out of breath before seeing Dogmeat against a tree. “Dogmeat!” he yelled, running over and kneeling down beside him. “Are you okay, boy?”

The German Shepherd responded with a playful bark and a few licks on the face.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” J.D. said, petting him on the head before turning his attention to the dead bear. “Fuck radstag. We’re eating this. Come on, Garvey. Help me skin it.”

*****

“Alright. We’re just past Concord. I’m putting this thing into auto for the time being,” Chloe said, pressing a few buttons on the APC dashboard before turning her chair to face the interior, looking around. “So, what’s this thing armed with again? Two .50 cals? I really wanna shred something with those.”

“Don’t forget the mounted autocannon,” Rachel added. “That thing should pack a punch too.”

“Yeah, J.D. emphasized that. What do you think of him, by the way? He seems cool.”

“He definitely knows his stuff. Fighting and otherwise,” Max said.

“No doubt about that. Rach? Your take?”

“Uh… he’s okay… I guess.”

“Just okay?” Chloe asked, grinning.

“What?” she asked before knowing what she was trying to get at. “Oh, no, Chloe… not that. Just… what do you think happened in New York? He really seems to hate even mentioning it.”

“Dunno. What did he say… years ago? Must’ve been pretty fucking bad that he doesn’t want to talk about it for so long.”

“I guess…”

“Why don’t you ask him? If anyone can get people to talk, it’s you.”

“Yeah… maybe,” she responded before turning to the APC’s terminal, a surprised look coming across her face. “What the…”

“What’s going on, Rach?” Chloe asked, getting up and looking over her shoulder.

“Uh… I’m not sure. Wait… sensors are detecting something blocking the road…” Rachel tapped away at the terminal before speaking again, “Max, check in front of us.”

She looked out of the front window, the APC making its way through a slight curve in the road, two more APCs coming into view as theirs rounded the corner. “Ch-Chloe, stop the vehicle.”

“What?” Chloe responded as she sat back down in the driver's seat, noticing the other vehicles blocking the road. “Oh, shit.” The APC came to a halt about seven yards away from the roadblock. Three men in metal armor approached them.

“I’ll see what they want,” Rachel said, opening the top hatch of the APC.

Max noticed about eight others besides the three that were walking towards them, not to mention the other two APCs with their autocannons trained on them.

“What do you want?” Rachel asked.

One of the men pulled out a megaphone. “These are Chemist controlled roads. State your business here.”

“We’re just passing through.”

“Who helped you fix up the vehicle?”

“No one. We did it ourselves.”

“Impossible. No one can fix these without help from one of the factions here.” He turned and conversed with the other two for a brief second before turning back to them. “Open the ramp and submit for inspection, or you will be fired upon.”

She came back down. “How do you want to play this?”

“Can’t we use the guns?” Chloe suggested. “They could tear straight through them.”

“Chloe, look at the two APCs,” Max said, pointing to them. “We can’t go up against them.”

“Well, I don’t know then.”

“I want an answer. Now.”

“Fuck. Do we just let them in?”

“Not sure that’s the best idea, Chloe. They’re Chemists.”

“I don’t have any better ideas, Rach. It’s better than being blown to shreds… I guess.”

“Fine. Open fire!”

“Screw it. Max, get on the autocannon,” Rachel told her.

As she went to aim the gun, she noticed a hail of red lasers coming from the right side of the road, two figures coming into view, one in power armor.

“Who the hell are they?” Rachel asked.

“Who the hell cares?” Chloe replied.

They watched in awe as the figure in power armor unleashed more lasers into the raiders. The other one fired a laser pistol and tossed what looked like a grenade in between the APCs, some sort of electrical pulse coming from it as the lights from the two military vehicles suddenly turned off. It didn’t take them long for the two unknown figures to turn attention to them, approaching their APC with their weapons ready.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay! We’re not Chemists. We’re friendly,” Rachel said, poking out of the hatch again.

They both holstered their weapons, the figure in power armor taking off their helmet, revealing a sweet face with her hair tied in a bun at the back of her head. “It’s nice to see some people with a working vehicle that aren’t Chemists. I’m Kate Marsh, ex-Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel. This is ex-Senior Scribe Warren Graham. It’s nice to meet you.”

*****

“This was the only picture you got?”

“Mr. Jefferson, they spotted me as soon as the camera took the picture. I had to flee,” the synth explained.

He wasn’t satisfied with the answer, but it was the only one he was going to receive. “Whatever. Get out of here, D9,” he responded, shooing the synth out of the room with his hand before examining the picture that was on the table in front of him. “Should’ve sent me up there,” he muttered under his breath before pointing to one of the people in the picture. “Her. She’s the one.”

“A-are you sure? Why not take…”

“She’s the one, Nathan.”

“Well, what about her…”

“We’ll take it from the real one. Now, inform Advanced Systems to create a synth based on the DNA of subject RDA-0722, from Vault 111.”