This is my second chapter. I hope you all like it and please leave a comment.

We both sat there for a moment staring at each other. The only sound that could be heard in the old shack was our breathing. She seemed scared, and after what she had been through she had every right to be. She was small and had brown hair and eyes. She was sitting in the cage with her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She was wearing a tattered dress.

"Where are mommy and daddy?" She asked. I just looked at her and shook my head. At this she began sobbing. Her head fell into her arms and her whole body began to shake. While she cried I let her out of the cage and walked over to the stove, which had been hidden behind the beds. I turned it on and began cooking some meat I had been keeping in my bag. By the time it was done she had stopped crying and crawled out of the cage. I handed some of the meat to her and we sat there eating in silence.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Megan. I'm named after my grandma." She said.

"Oh? Where does your grandma live?" I said.

"She used to travel with us but she passed away a long time ago." She replied. Her voice was very small and weak from crying. I had to keep her talking though that would keep her mind off of what had happened.

"Why were you travelling?" It was the only question I could think of.

"Daddy would go to different towns and fixed things. We always had fun because we got to see all kinds of different places." She said.

"That sounds like fun, how old are you Megan?" I asked. She didn't answer she just held up her hands so that she had seven fingers pointing out. "I see. Do you have any other family at all, or any friends of your parents who could watch over you?" I asked. She just shook her head and started sobbing again. This was a problem, if she didn't have anywhere to go I would either have to leave her here or take her with me. I looked at her, she was still sitting there sobbing, and I ran a hand through my black hair trying to think. She'd last five minutes, maybe. I sighed. "Have you ever been to Megaton?" I asked. Megaton was a town about a day and halves walk from here. Most of the people there were kind and I knew a couple who owed me favors.

She nodded and made a weird sound wiping snot from her nose. "I went there once but I don't really remember it." She said.

"Well you had better get used to the place because that's where I'm dropping you off when we get there." I made sure I said it so my voice offered no argument. "Now go to sleep because we're going to be walking all day tomorrow." She looked at me with a hint of argument in her eyes, so I took off my sunglasses and glared at her until she crawled into one of the beds. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. I put my sunglasses back on and sat with my back leaning against the wall. I looked up at the ceiling and sighed, tomorrow was going to be another long day.

I woke up at about six in the morning, I don't know how but I always know about what time it is. I got up and looked around the shack for anything useful. I found a little bit of food and thirty-six bottle caps. After the war there hadn't been much money that was in good condition. So most of what was the United States now used various supplies for trading and bottle caps for currency. After everything was ready to go I shook Megan roughly to wake her up. She rolled over and gave me grumpy eyes.

"It's time to go Megan." I said. She started whining so I picked her up by her dress collar and held her dangling in the air.

"Put me down!" She squealed.

"Oh good, you're up and that means we can leave." I set her down and walked out the door. The sun hadn't risen yet because it was almost winter. There was little light covering the wasteland. I could barely see the road in front of me. This was the best time to move. Most of the wild animals were still asleep, and raiders usually weren't active until noon.

A minute later Megan came walking out the door rubbing sleep from her eyes. She had some small rain boots on over her feet so they wouldn't get scratched walking through the wasteland. There's really no grass out in the wasteland. One could find a small clump of it occasionally, but for the most part just rocks and dirt. That was another reason winter was dangerous. Normally you could see the ground and everything on it, but when the snow fell everything was hidden; supplies, animal tracks, warning signs, and landmines. I gave her a look to confirm she was ready, and then we set off.

We had been walking for several hours, and when Megan said "travel" I think she meant her mom and dad carried her.

"It's hot!" She said.

"I know." I replied.

"I'm tired!" She said.

"I know!" I said.

"I'm hungry!" She said. I turned around and took off my sunglasses. I had spun around so fast that she jumped in surprise.

"Look," I said, "I'm not your mommy or your daddy. I'm just a guy that's too nice for his own good. I have no reason to go to Megaton or help you get there, so unless you want me to leave you here I suggest you stop complaining!" I said it so that my voice was firm and filled with authority. She didn't make a sound, and because of the silence I finally heard the growling.

Megan screamed, I spun around, and was tackled to the ground by a large wasteland dog. All the wind had been knocked out of me and the hairless creature was on top of me. My hands instinctively shot up and grabbed the dog's neck. My hands held it back as it bit and snarled, trying to get a piece of me. With my hands on the dog's throat I twisted them and there was a sickening snap before the dog went limp. I threw it off and stood up, and then Megan screamed again. While I was busy three more dogs had surrounded us, and they were circling us growling. Their eyes were filled with hunger and their ribs were showing. I knew that I wouldn't be able to scare them away. "Megan get behind me!" I yelled. I pulled my sawed off out of my backpack and aimed it at the nearest one. Then a shot echoed through the wasteland and one of the dogs dropped to the ground. Two more shots, and everything was quiet.

I grabbed Megan's shoulder and moved her so we were hidden behind some rocks.

"What's going on?" She asked. I turned to her and held up a finger for silence.

"Yeeehawww!" Someone shouted. "You folks can come out now, I aint gonna hurtchya." I looked out from behind the rock and saw a man in overalls with a hunting rifle over one shoulder. He looked like he was in his early forties and behind him was another younger man in overalls. He looked about the same age as me, nineteen. They had rough appearances, and the younger man had taken out a knife and begun to cut choice pieces off of the dogs.

"Thanks for the save." I said as we came out from behind the rocks. Megan was hiding behind me with her arms wrapped around one of my legs.

"Don't mention it, were always glad to help people out around here. So long as they aint raiders, slavers, talon company mercs, ghouls, super mutants…" The man just went on and on. "Any who, just who are you folks, and where are you headed?" He asked.

"I'm Adam and this is Megan, we're headed to Megaton." I said. While we talked Megan stayed hidden behind me. She was sad, scared, and now more people with guns had shown up.

"Well, no shit! That's where me and my families headed! Why don't yall come with us? My wife, Janet, makes one mean wild dog stew. Oh, I'm Joe and this is my son Mitchell." He pointed over to the man cutting up the meat and putting it into a bag. At the mention of his name Mitchell looked up at us and tipped his hat. These people seemed nice enough, but in the wasteland I didn't trust anyone.

"Sorry, I said, but we plan on travelling through the ni-."

"Soup sounds yummy!" Megan cut me off jumping out from behind me with a huge smile on her face.

"Well just come with us little girlie! You're in for a real treat tonight!" He said. Megan's face was filled with glee. I grabbed Megan's shoulder and puller her back towards me.

"Thanks for the offer, I said, but we would hate to intrude after you saved us." I said.

"Oh come on now! If you don't come with us my wife Janet will smack me for letting you good folks go hungry!" He said. After that Megan glared at me and ran over beside them. Then Mitchell put a hand on my shoulder squeezed tightly and started guiding us over to their camp.

"Sorry, he said, but he aint lying Mama will beat us if we let you go without a hot meal!"

When we got there we were introduced to the rest of the family. In addition to Joe and Mitchell there was Janet, Jesse, Bessie, and Scruff, their dog. Bessie and Jesse were their daughters. Jess was sixteen and Bessie was fourteen, and the second I walked into camp they both began batting their eyelashes at me. They were both pretty, Jesse had blonde hair down to her waist and was wearing a flannel shirt and jeans, while Bessie had red hair tied up in a bun and a pink dress down to her shins. The camp itself consisted of three tents around a fire. With the dog sleeping nearby.

"Joe who are these people, and why didn't you give them some of the meat I sent with you? They look starved for heaven's sake!" Janet said.

"Damn it woman! I would've given them some meat if you had packed more! By the time we found them we were all out!" Joe yelled back.

"Don't raise your voice at me! I packed you plenty of meat! You would've had more if you weren't such a glutton!" Janet barked. Then Jesse spoke up.

"Mama! Papa! Please, we have guests and one of them is only a little girl! You shouldn't be using that kind of language in front of them." She turned to us. "Please make yourselves at home; we'll have dinner ready in just a few minutes. I just nodded and mouthed thank you.

"Alright, Jesse Bessie you start the stew, Joe Mitchell and Adam get yourselves washed up and Megan you come with me so we can get you into some fresh clothes!" Janet said. Everyone, including me, began doing as ordered. Janet made it obvious who was in charge.

Joe was right when he said we were in for a treat. The soup was delicious, and none of us held back on the praise. "You've done it again girls! That was a mighty fine dinner!" Joe said. Mitchell turned towards us.

"So Adam, Megan, what didya think about mamas coking?" Mitchell said.

"It was really really good!" Megan said. At this everyone laughed. After we washed up Megan had sat down beside me and refused to leave my side. Janet had changed Megan to look like a little version of them. She was wearing a flannel shirt and overalls that Janet had kept from when her girls were small.

"Best meal I've had all year!" I said. "Thanks for inviting us to dinner, I hope we didn't intrude."

"Oh not at all, we love having company!" Janet said.

"Ya know Adam; both my girls are single if you're interested!" Joe said.

"Pappy!" They both yelled and started knocking him around. I just sat there looking at them awkwardly.

"What? I was just saying what everyone was thinking!" He said. Then they all stopped and looked at me, even Megan who was giggling at the sudden awkward atmosphere. I looked back with a face filled with bewilderment.

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in that kind of thing right now. A friend of mine is in trouble and it's going to take quite a bit of travelling before their safe again." I said.

"Well, we live in Megaton so you just drop by when you're done with your little mission." Janet said, and thankfully that was the end of it. "Alright everyone off to bed! Megan you can sleep in the girl's tent with them and Adam when you're not on watch you can sleep in Mitchell's tent."

I was on first watch with Joe. After we were done Mitchell would take over for the rest of the night. I assumed they set it up like that because Joe wanted to talk with me. "So, tell me about that Megan girl." He said.

"I found her two days ago; her parents were killed by raiders." I said.

"That's a real shame." He said. "She didn't seem too sad though, for a girl who just lost her parents."

"She was before you found us; I think she's just easily distracted." I said. "As long as someone's talking to her she's happy."

"I don't think that's the case boy, Janet told me that as soon as you two were separated she seemed nervous and sad about something. It could be that she just finds you similar to an older brother and is more comfortable around you." He said. "Well, at least that's what Janet thinks and she's never wrong about that kind of stuff."

"Well she'd better get used to living without me because I don't intend to keep her. When I get to Megaton I'm going to drop her off and be on my way." I said. He laughed.

"Be careful boy, I don't think you're gonna be able to get rid of her that easily." He said. Then we both fell silent and resumed the watch. I had a strange feeling that he was right, and that he had this talk with me because he was worried I would just drop Megan off at Megaton.

The next morning we all got up and packed. It was early and Janet had us moving quickly. I hadn't slept well that night, I had been tense around these people and I wasn't going to let them catch me off guard, even if they were as nice as they seemed. Within two hours I was able to relax though because we arrived at a huge iron gate with a robot guarding the entrance. We had arrived at Megaton.

Well there it took forever and there wasn't much action. Next chapter will be shorter and consist mostly about Megaton, and then I promise to get back to the action. Please post a comment!