William/Billy= Scout

Billy rushes to his mother, helping her fill a bag with essential supplies. Hearing gunshots getting closer to the shack, he decides that they have enough and throws the duffle bag over his shoulder. Then he grabs his mother bridal style and rushes out. Exiting the families camp through the back entrance, he can hear the yells of his seven older brothers mixing with those of the invading raiders, their rapid gunshots echoing off the walls. His older brothers were fighting and losing to a gang that had gotten sick of their existence as scavengers. Billy would have gladly run around with them and shoot the cr*p out of the intruders, but he was the youngest and fastest, and sohe was trusted with the job of getting their mom out safely. As he left the camp, he heard his third oldest brother running up to him. He shoves a 10mm pistol into their ma's hands and puts a baseball bat in the duffle bag. Gently he pats the top of Billy's cap, then turns back and runs to the fight yelling over his shoulder

"Run Billy! Keep ma safe!"

The rest of his brothers who were alive, but almost were close to dying, sent out their family's signature yowl, one that was always used when fighting. With this send off, Billy let his feet fly, focusing only on holding up his mom and running. The woman is aiming the pistol over his shoulder, shooting those that tried to follow, but soon this action is unneeded. They were too far off. That's when the reality of the situation struck his mom and the crying began. Billy listens to his mom sob into his orange hoodie as he ran, his heart breaking at the thought of his most certainly dead brothers and his strong mother breaking down.

A few hours after initially running, Billy puts his mom down and collapses against a tree. She had fallen asleep a while ago and he loathed the idea of waking her now. His legs hurt, aching half as painfully as his heart. His mom had already cried herself dry, but he had yet to let any free. His brothers, the ones who had mercilessly teased him, had taught him how to find the most valuable prices of scrap, the ones who watched his back as he had theirs, were gone. All gone. With the amount of raiders rushing in, there is no chance that they survived.

Curling tightly into a ball, the young runner hides his face and its tears in his knees. He had not cried earlier, because he wanted to provide his mother with a stable rock for her raging emotions, but now he could express them freely. Though drained, he stayed conscious and sat back up after his heavy tears had come out. He has to make sure no one attacks them from the shadows that dance around in the moonlight.

Searching for a new safe place for his mother and him to settle proved to be a difficult task, especially with such emotional trauma burning so near. Neither wanted to live inside a settlement, too used to being left on their own. But without the numbers, the area selected would have to have very few enemies roaming through. Neither Billy nor his mom were scared of a fight; they just had enough experience to know two people could not fight off everything. They ended up moving from settlement to settlement, trading scrap for caps that were then used for supplies and lodgings. Billy never liked sticking around too long, often wary of the glances men would give his ma.

Wandering into the inn of the settlement they had been staying in for the past few days, Billy tiredly sits down at the bar. While scouting out possible living areas, he had been gathering valuable items to trade, both activities taking him over a large expanse of land and had left him exhausted. After returning to town and presenting the items to his ma, she insisted that he stay with her and learn how to haggle with the shopkeeper of the general store. He left her to sell what they had not sold to the more general at more specialized shops. Billy orders the least alcoholic drink at the inn, knowing how disapproving his ma was of her youngest getting alcohol into his system, especially now. And he tried to respect his ma's wishes. Listening quietly to those around him, an odd action occurring only due to his tiredness, he catches the beginning of a story with some interesting information.

"Some crazy raiders thought they were man enough to take on Old Dell."

"Well that's good news for us, eh? The robots destroy 'em?"

"Ah h**l yeah. They haven't come back, if that's any indication."

The second man speaks up again with an ever widening grin.

"No body with any function left in their brains is going to go ten mile of that place."

"Yep!"

Billy decides he wants to more information, figuring knowing a greater amount would not hurt. Breaking into the conversation, he asks his question.

"Where's this Dell live?"

The two bar buddies look at the teen dressed in a tattered, dirt stained, orange hoodie,with the left arm fraying badly, taking in his appearance, noting the worn duffle bag hanging on his shoulder with its extra pockets on the strap. Deciding that spreading the local gossip to a new comer would be enjoyable, they decide to do so with matching grins.

"Old Dell lives out west of town in an area full of trees about a day's walk from here. Nobody travels near there, you see, 'cause he fixes up robots to patrol a wide area around his house. Till about ten miles out nobody goes into that territory, even bears and deathclaws avoid it. His machines a freakin' deadly."

The second man breaks in.

"Nobody ever comes back from visiting him. Sure, he'll come to town once in a blue moon, but otherwise no one sees him and lives."

Billy hums with interest at the information flung at him, thinking it over. The first man speaks up, interrupting Billy's thoughts.

"Thinking of heading out there?"

Flashing a buck tooth grin, Billy nods his head.

"Yeah I am. Sounds like fun."

Both stare at him, snorting. The second speaker, makes his option of the matter known.

"Good luck with that, kid."

"I'm not a kid, man."

With another snort, the two men each give the teen a pat on the back.

"Sure you're not."

Billy huffs at the remark, refuting it again and getting a similar response. Seeming to decide that Billy was an amiable companion, the two men drag him into other conversations about the area. Billy gains a greater knowledge of the personal business of the town than really is necessary for someone not planning to live there permanently. Privately, he plans his excursion to investigate "Old Dell" the next day. Upon seeing his mother return to the inn and enter their joint room, he excuses himself from the two bar buddies and goes to join her. Waiting up for his ma to return had been one of the main reasons he had stayed in the bar area of the inn. He always did this when they stayed in a town together; he wanted to see her safe before he went to bed, a habit created from the loss of his brothers.