Dette was born Claudette Yates in 2070 in Kansas, to a happy family living the white picket fence with 2.5 kids and a dog American dream. Her mom, Janette, was a housewife, but of Course she didn't do this housework alone. She had, like most wealthy house wives, A Mr. Handy they had dubbed Scooter. She had a little baby Brother whom she ADORED, named Little Walter, or Wallie. He'd grow to detest the nickname later in life, but when he was a little drooling, babbling baby, he grinned like mad when they called him. He looked like a chipmunk, bearing his first two teeth in the front. He also had giant chubby cheeks to compliment the teeth. That's what Dette remembered most about him.
Her father was a united States Senator, while she didn't know what that meant, but she knew he was 'mportant and he worked for the gov'-ment. She didn't care much for her father. His words were harsh and abrasive and his breath reeked of alcohol. They had a small dog that Dette had no interest in named Buddy. Wallie was fascinated by the creature. His favorite way to spend time with the pungent beast was to feed him carrots and let him lick the pudding off his face. Dette wanted nothing to do with that mutt. She was happy when she lived on the outside, truly genuinely happy. She remembered the tender moments her family shared at the park, kids on the swings parents on the bench cuddling in the fall breeze. In the bed all snuggling under a blanket with popcorn while they watched a clichéd family film about morals and shit.
She also remembers vividly when these happy memories abruptly ended. It was 2077, she had just turned seven and just entered the second grade. Even though her father was a crucial part of the United States government, she paid no attention to politics and had no idea about the trouble brewing on the horizon. She knew but only two things. One, at school they began to play new games involving the contemptuous mocking of the Chinese children. They would pull their eyelids sideways so they pulled across their eyes tightly with a slant, and then they would spit gibberish in what they assumed was what Chinese sounded like. It was really a mash of Chings sprinkled with a few flavorful chongs. Any Chinese children were brutally teased, sometimes even physically hurt. Dette took part in this, not knowing why really, everyone else was doing it. She remembered tackling a small Chinese boy, whom she had been chasing through the overgrown forests. Her young lungs heaving with the effort of the chase. She heard the crashing sounds of her accomplices catching up to her, it was time to perform.
She smiled down at the younger girl, her eyes mischievous. She held the girl tightly, spread eagle by her wrists. The girl tried to writhe away from Dette's laborious breaths, but didn't even manage to budge. Dette looked back at her friends two friends. They looked at her expectantly, leaning over with their hands on their knees. They shared her eager grin. Dette turned back to the girl, winked, then made a familiar hacking sound, clearing her sinuses of mucus. She dangled the mucus from her mouth, letting it drip precariously above the young girl. The girl grimaced and squealed, before Dette sucked up the mucus with a satisfying slurp. After a few moments of torment, Dette released the girl, and chased her off into the forest. Her pigtails bounced as she sprinted, nearly tripping on a moss covered branch. Dette and her friends laughed as they watched the girl disappear into the forest, satisfied with their work.
Another thing was her father had stopped coming home after a long workday. One time when Dette snuck into her mother's room to poke around with her makeup again, one of her new means of entertainment, she stumbled upon her mother crying. Scooter floated dutifully at her side , nodding his overblown head and giving any comfort he was programmed to. Her mother spilled out details about the bitch her husband was sleeping with, and how he and her had tucked themselves away to some covert location. Dette didn't know this at the time, but her father had left their family for the daughter of a Congressman from Idaho, her name was Ruby. She was only nineteen and Dette's father was near ancient, so she thought, but they stole away to a secret cabin with no electricity or running water. He meant to come back, but the sex, booze, and pot were so good that he just sat in bed, stoned with his young prize for a week. Until the little cabin was blown away by the force of a large mushroom cloud that is. Sadly he never got the memo about the incoming nuclear attack, and Janette never bothered to tell him. Oops.
She remembered when they moved. They left Buddy at home, which she knew must be odd, don't people normally take pets when they move? Well, Scooter could take care of him. Scooter was the best robot in the whole universe, She knew that in her heart, the same heart that ached so bad when they got into that car and sped away from that sleepy town in Kansas. She saw Scooter wave as he stood by the mailbox, and the bright sunrise behind him. Little did she know that that was the last sunrise she'd see in many, many years. Dette remembered the line, barely. They stood in the line for hours. The people in the line were very nervous, shifting their weight from foot to foot, and glancing past to the end of the line.
The adults sweat heavily, even though it was a cool October morning. Children cried, including little Wallie, who was usually a complacent child. He cried because he wanted Buddy, but Buddy would be dead soon, nothing but a charred piece of flesh under the rubble of a white picket fence American dream home. He would die, along with any remnants of the American dream, a long with any remnants of society, along with any remnants of hope. Dette remembered when it was her families turn. Many burly men in some sort of blue jumpsuit uniform stood in front of a large door that was shaped like a cog the read "VAULT 48".
Inside there was metal stairs and harsh false light and more lines of weary people. She frowned and watched as her mother handed the men papers to look over. She had Wallie on her hip and bounced him steadily. He babbled endlessly, wanting to ask the men or his mother where they were and where buddy was. But all the adults heard was his meaningless baby babble. He was a vocal child, too bad his vocal chords weren't used to adult talk yet.
The man with the paper handed it back to Jan, smiling at Wallie. They said that they were glad to save the young ones especially, and gestured to Dette holding tightly onto her mothers white knuckled hand. They moved into the cave with the giant cog door and stood in the other line. At the end of the lines were giant boxes and women in jumpsuits stood behind the boxes. The jumpsuits had the same number as the cog door, and they passed out folded blue jumpsuits to each person. They changed into these jumpsuits in an area with portable curtains, and dropped their clothes along with every single other item they brought. Dette was reluctant to put in the family picture, but her mommy told her with no certainty that they would get it back soon.
As Dette was about to drop the framed family photo that included everyone even the dog and robot, when a blinding white light flashed through the room, followed by a low rumble. Next thing Dette knew was she was flat on her back and feet were trampling her body. There was some screaming, but mostly people just ran, and ran. Dette heard Wallie's wails from a few feet away and his mother cry out, but she couldn't see anything. She heard a loud scrape and the ground shook, Dette guessed that it was from the cog door being closed. The Orienting room was filled to capacity (about 120 people) and now they were siphoning slowly through the small double doors at the end. People outside the vault door began to push and scream.
They were beginning to feel the heat from the nuclear bomb that went off some twenty miles away. People in the orienting room were pushed against the wall, they began and scream and grunt, bones broke, more screams. The cog spun as it closed, one man pushed furiously at the crowd, but to no avail. The last thing he saw was one of the prongs on the cog inches from his face. The cog door acted as if there were no human body blocking the way, as blood spurted on both sides. It closed Tightly and firmly, leaving about one hundred would be vault dwellers. Sixty of them women and children. They pounded on the door furiously. Each pound let out a muted metallic clang. Another rumble in the distance, this time closer much closer.. Then the pounding stopped.