It was still weird to be walking down the street by myself. When my family lived in Georgia, I would never have been allowed to walk through town by myself. But now that we were in Boston that changed things. Also the fact that I was now thirteen probably helped as well.

I looked up from the sidewalk, turning back to the animal shelter I had just left. I had been volunteering and would probably take a shower when I got home. The people there were less than nice but I wasn't there for them. Plus they'd probably be nice if I actually talked to them more, but I always focused on the dogs and cats there.

Thoughts of my puppy Harley swam into my mind but I shook them away. I didn't want to get sad.

It was rather cold for October, I thought before remembering; duh it was cold! We lived up North now. Thankfully my house was close nearby. I quickened my pace, ready to go home, see Troy, Mom and Shaun.

It took me about ten minutes to get there but something was different. They put up Halloween decorations without me! The nerve... I was about to be a bit upset, but honestly, it wasn't big deal. I snickered quietly, and knocked on the door to get my family to open the gosh dang door.

Troy opened it, looked at me for minute then said, "We don't want any girl scout cookies, kiddo." He made a move to shut the door but I swung under his arm, racing inside. "Ha! Too fast for ya!" I said jokingly, but it was true.

While Troy was muscular and tall, I was small and thin. We both did look similar, dark brown hair, olive skin, and thick eyebrows. But he was twenty-one now, and had that look of "I'm older and therefore in charge." He also had pale green eyes in contrast to my dark brown ones.

Troy made a fake pouty face and made an exaggerated sad pose. "Oh no! I let in the beast!" He said in a dramatic tone. I laughed and made a attempt to give him a hug but he held me back` with one hand. I scrabbled for a moment, trying to get forward. "Why are you always so huggy, kid?" He said in an annoyed tone, shoving me away. "You know I don't like hugs." "Precisely."

I backed away and looked away. "Where's Mom?" I asked, but mechanical whirring from behind made me turn. It was Codsworth, a robot with a spherical body, three eyes, and three arm-like appendages, each ending in a tool of some sort. He was a cool robot guy, and I thought he could be a bit funny, especially when making snide comments about the neighbors.

"Miss Katie," He said in his British accent. "Your mother has gone out. She will be back in a little while. Would you care for a drink?" I shook my head. "No thanks, Codsworth." We had only had the robot for a month but he was great. Gave all of us more free time, specially Mom, what with her having to work long hours at the local hospital. I walked down the hallway.

Our new house wasn't particularly big (in fact me and Troy shared a room!), but I liked it. Well, I like just about anything honestly. I entered Shaun's room. Troy considered it odd that the baby got to have his own room but I didn't mind.

"Hey Shaun! It's Katie!" I cooed at him in that baby-talk voice everyone uses when talking with either a baby or their dog. "How's my little guy?"

I heard the door open and looked out of the room to see Mom setting groceries down on the counter. She had a oddly shaped wrapped gift to someone. Probably to Troy, if I'm being honest with myself. He was always getting stuff, because as the oldest and the only one in the military, he sometimes got special treatment.

"You want me to help you put that stuff up?" I asked as I walked to the kitchen/dining room. "Yeah, that'd be great. Got you two Nuka-Cherry." She said as she sat on the couch an looked at the newspaper. I eyed the wrapped gift for a second before asking her who it was for. "Put up the groceries and I'll tell you." I shrugged and started pulling cans out of the bags. Troy leaned over me and snatched his Nuka-Cherry before heading to our room, probably going to organize all of our stuff for the third time this week. He had this habit of doing that, which wouldn't have been a problem if he didn't hide my photography supplies everytime. One time they were on the roof and I had to climb up there t get them. I swear, Mom yelled at him for an hour. Now he only hid them in our room, which was easier.

I shoved the beer Mom had bought into the fridge and shut the door when the calendar caught my eye. My breath hitched for a moment. Troy was heading overseas in only a few days. My eyes slid over to the door of our room. Now that I thought about it he was probably packing his things. My heart sank. Whenever he left I always got really upset.

I put the thought of him not being here away and took the hair tie from my wrist and tied my bushy hair back into a short ponytail. I put the last few cans away then stepped into the living room. "Who is it for?" Mom had apparently snatched the gift away and had set it next to her. I heard Shaun start crying and turned to go see to the little dude but Codsworth was already there.

I stood awkwardly for a moment the turned to see Mom standing in front of me. She put the present in my hands and I gave her that look, you know the one, "Um, what? Excuse me?" "Kate, just open it." she said in a exasperated tone.

I peeled away the wrapping paper and gasped so loudly Troy poked his head out from our room. It was a new camera and a ton of fusion cells for it. I basically tackled her in a hug. "I can't believe you- Thank you! Thank you so much!" I squealed and held it close. I set the fusion cells into my pocket that zipped and made sure none would fall out before checking out the camera.

I was vaguely aware of Mom and Troy looking on with amusement. It was a great camera and was built so strongly it could probably survive a nuclear explosion and still work perfectly. Someone rang the doorbell and I looked up for a second as Troy answered it. It was some salesman in a banana-yellow suit.

I turned back to the camera. Because it was powered by fusion cells, it would work for a long time. The strap was comfortable against my neck and didn't chafe. I stepped away from the counter as Troy closed the door.

I took a picture of him to test the flash. He nearly fell back from how bright it was. "Don't do that!" He warned. I grinned at him. I looked at the memory and nearly gasped at how much space it had. I could record for hours.

Troy was talking with Mom about something when Codsworth came back into the living room. "Miss Summer, Shaun has been changed but he still won't calm down." He said. " I believe he needs that maternal affection you seem so good at." Troy took this as his cue to go back to our room.

I leaned on the canter as Mom went down the hallway to tend to a crying Shaun when suddenly I got a idea. "Troy, come on" I said as I raced to our room. I paused, looking at his suitcase full of uniforms. I walked into Shaun's room and looked at Mom holding Shaun.

"Hey I'm gonna take a picture of you three. Another one for the album, ya know?" I announced as Troy walked into the room. He was going to walk out but Mom gave him a hard look. They got into a pose and Troy braces himself for the flash but it never came.

At that moment, Codsworth in a very worried tone called out, "Mum, children! You should come and see this!" I let my camera hang from my neck and speed-walked down the hall. "-flashes. Blinding flashes...We have confirmed nuclear detonations in New York and Philadelphia.. Oh god.." The news reporter put his head in his hands. My blood ran cold. This couldn't be happening.

Troy had to shove me to move. Mom was carrying Shaun. As I raced to where Troy said we'd be safe, Vault something or other, I noticed small things. The way the two women held onto each other, hands clenching the clothes of the other. The bugs crawling around on leaves, unaware of what was going to happen. People yelling things at one another because they couldn't hear them over their own racing heart.

We were almost there when everything came back into focus. The man in the banana-yellow suit was being stopped from going inside, even though he apparently worked for the company. I felt bad for him, guilty for all the people not being allowed inside.

I could barely hear anything until we stepped onto the plate that would lower us into the vault. Then everything became extremely clear and easy to hear. A lady nearby was murmuring a prayer to god while a young man was crying so quietly that none else noticed.

"We are going to be okay. I love you both." Mom said in the high-pitched voice she had when terrified. Troy clutches me tightly to his chest. I stared up at him and could see terror I had never seen him have. I looked at Mom, at how she was holding Shaun and quietly whispering a prayer.

It became deathly quiet at I witnessed something I had only seen in tv shows and comics; a gigantic mushroom cloud. I didn't dare to blink as the earth rumbled and a gray smoky cloud was nearing us. The plate was lowering and two jaw-like doors were shutting above us, leaving us in darkness.

I hope this was okay. Get ready for shenanigans.

Katie's Stats:

Strength - 1

Perception - 4

Endurance - 2

Charisma - 4

Intelligence - 5

Agility - 4

Luck - 1

Troy's Stats:

Strength - 4

Perception - 2

Endurance - 5

Charisma - 3

Intelligence - 5

Agility - 1

Luck - 1