The next morning, I open my eyes to see Dizzy poking at a dying fire. The sun is rising over the horizon, warming things with its light as it slowly rises in the sky. Against the backdrop of the rising sun, Dizzy looks like…she belongs out here. Like she was meant to be in the Wasteland, just as our parents were. Even though, she looks sad, and tired as she pokes at the burned sticks, to me she's perfect. Each breath she takes, as her stomach that's confined in the holds of her shirt rises and falls. My mother in her time, once dawned armor just like that. But, my mother is adorned with scars, and bare muscle. It doesn't take away from her beauty, but I wonder if by the end of this, will Dizzy have her own set of scars? I think, she'll have her own story to tell. Just as my mother does.

"What're you doing?"

I ask, sleepily. I'm happy, that she's the first thing I see when I wake up. Dizzy shrugs, and gives a sideways smirk.

"Playing with fire."

"I see that."

"Then why'd you ask?"

Her smile, as she looks at me, tells me she doesn't mean that as rudely as it sounds. Sitting up, I yawn, stretch, and rub the sleep from my eyes. My back is sore from the hard ground, and I'm colder than I usually am. At home, though, I have blankets to protect me from the pre-morning chills. Dizzy still wears my Duster jacket, as she sits in front of the fire.

"So, you ready and excited to head off into the great unknown?"

Surprisingly, Dizzy just shrugs and looks away from me. She doesn't seem at all excited, and I sense something is wrong.

"Diz? You alright?"

Biting her lip, she shakes her head at me.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm hungry. So I woke up to look for food. Then I realized, I don't know how to get food. And then…then…I really miss dad…"

"Dad?"

She nods, and pouts while patting her stomach.

"Yeah, dad."

"Why dad? What about mom?"

"I miss her too, but I miss dad more."

"Why?"

"Remember when I thought there was a monster under my bed? Dad would come in every single night, and pretend to fight the monster. Then he'd tell me he killed it for the night, so that I could sleep as late as I wanted. I heard noises last night, and I realized out here, the monsters are real, and dad isn't here to fight them."

Dizzy and our father are close. When she was little, he'd always pick her up and play with her. He'd fight the monsters, and scared everyone stiff of messing with her. Once this creep tried to see under Dizzy's dress. Well, that's what she came home saying. She said some 'big, tall, mean man' had tried to take her dress away. Of course, she didn't understand it. Only that someone wanted her precious dress. Dad, on the other hand, completely lost his mind. Mom couldn't even calm him down.

I remember following him out, because he demanded I come with him. Maybe because he wanted to teach me a lesson: do not let anyone mess with Dizzy. But anyways, he grabbed his gun, and with me in toe, went to find the guy. Dizzy had told him he was the new man, and I didn't know what she meant, but dad did. We went right to his house, and needless to say he was shocked to see the mayor and sheriff of Megaton at his front door. He didn't know Dizzy was his daughter.

Dad nearly blew his head off. Ended up firing a bunch of rounds into the roof and it was loud enough to notify everyone in town. Scared the guy shitless, and ended up beating him to nothing more than a pulp. That's just one small example, of how protective our father is over his family. Especially Dizzy. She's his little girl, and she wears that title with pride.

"If it makes you feel better, the monsters out here are no match for me."

Suspicious, Dizzy raises an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah?"

"Diz, dad fought pretend monsters. I saved your ass from Raiders. You're just a bit homesick. There's food in the pack. Relax a bit and let's head over to the monument when you're done eating."

Dizzy smiles at me, and pulls something out of my Duster jacket. It's a folded piece of paper, and I recognize it as the map I copied down from mom's Pip-Boy.

"I want to go to a new place, Cain. A new place."

"New place?"

I say as I begin to dig food out from the pack. Dizzy can't eat as much as she did back home. We have to save our food, because the one thing dad failed to teach me was how to catch the animal, before skinning and cooking it.

"Yeah, here, right here."

Dizzy gets up and shoves the map in my face. Her finger points to the Citadel Ruins. Confused, I look at her.

"Why would you want to go there?"

"Because it looks cool."

"Dizzy, it's on a map."

"I'm going whether you like it or not. Follow me or not, I'm going. I'm also hungry."

She snatches the Sugar Bombs from my hands and starts to chow down. I have no choice in this matter, I can see that. I mean, I had wanted to go to the Citadel Ruins but…I guess not so soon. And for Dizzy to pick that one location, out of over hundreds, is a bit strange to me. But I figure it isn't anything important. Maybe for some reason, it sparks her interest. Killing two birds with one stone won't be too hard to do. I can't say I'm not suspicious, but what is there to be suspicious about? Dizzy wants to go to the Citadel Ruins. I can't stop that.

The next few hours, we follow the river. Dizzy and I make small talk, laughing as we enjoy the company of each other. Even though we're having fun, I can't shake that something about Dizzy is off. It could her homesickness, but it doesn't seem that way. Every once in a while mid-conversation she'll stop and look around. Even if she's laughing, when she looks the happiness drains from her face, and she gets worried.

After about five hours of non-stop walking, something happens. We run into trouble. In front of us, Super Mutants yell and shout at one another. Neither Dizzy nor I have ever really seen one this close before. Sure, dad showed us a nest of them forming just outside Megaton, through his sniper scope, but that was it. Now, they're bigger than both of us thought, and a lot closer. Stupidly, Dizzy and I stare at them.

"So…do we shoot them?"

She asks, pulling her gun out.

"I guess. I mean, before they start shooting us."

Suddenly, Dizzy isn't the girl I know her to be. With courage, and foolishness, she runs ahead of me and starts to aim and fire her weapon.

"Dizzy!"

I call after her, as her bullets hit their targets. It doesn't do much damage, dad says it takes a good amount of bullets to take down Super Mutants because of their thick skin. Pulling out my own weapon, I catch up to her and start firing. The mutants get pissed, there's two of them, and one charges with a board in his hand.

"Look out!"

I say, pushing Dizzy down. She falls into the dirt, unharmed, as I dodge a misplaced swing.

"Leave my brother alone! Stop it!"

I see a rock hit the side of the Super Mutant's head, and his attention is taken away from me. The other one starts to fire a Hunting Rifle, and Dizzy is oblivious to this as she lets bullet after bullet hit the mutant coming towards her. Eventually, she runs out, and the rest of her ammunition is in the pack. That is on my back.

"Die, human!"

The mutant screams, and I ignore the one shooting. A bullet hits my arm. Have you ever been shot before? I sure as hell haven't. The pain is sharp, burning really, and I feel my arm twitch and bleed. I let out a cry of pain, and drop my weapon. Dad may have trained me, but no amount of training can compare to the real thing.

"No! You die you mutant!"

Dizzy yells back at her assailant, and I reach back down for my weapon. With my right upper arm injured, I know I won't be able to deal with the recoil. But then, I think, I go into shock. Dizzy picks up a large rock, and hurls it at the mutant's head. It does little to him, and he hits her full force with his board. She cries from pain, as she flies a few feet form him.

"No!"

I yell, and the mutant takes Dizzy's still body as a sign of death. I hope to god he's wrong. Ignoring the pain in my arm, as I see red all around me, I begin to fire my weapon at him. Bullets pierce him, and ultimately, I bring him down quickly. The other one, gets angry at seeing his cohort fall, lifeless. Letting out an angry cry, he rushes at me. My magazine empties before I can bring him down, as I didn't bother firing much at him. Right now, my weapon is useless, but I have one last defense.

Two nights ago, when I talked to my father, he gave me his precious combat knife. He told me to keep it strapped close to my waist, and use it in battle only as a last resort. Well. This is a last resort. Pulling it out of its sheath, I hold it in front of me. I may be tall, but this mutant is much taller. Figuring I can land a good wound on his abdomen, it's what I aim for. He reaches me, and I'm able to pierce his hard skin. But it does nothing. His large hand wraps around my neck, and I feel the air escaping my lungs while he lifts my feet off the ground.
"Dinner!"

He screams as I struggle. I try and stab at his hands with my knife, but with a free hand the mutant pries it from my fingers and tosses it aside. Kicking, hitting, struggling, it doesn't help me. I can't breathe, and I feel my insides churning and shutting down.

"Leave him alone! Let him go!"

Dizzy's voice sounds so far away, and bleary I see her struggling to get up. The mutant looks over at her, distracted just long enough for me to lift my foot and kick him right in the diaphragm. At least, where I think it is. Either way, right or wrong, it works. The mutant drops me like a sack of yeast.

"Human girls taste better!"

He paces towards Dizzy while I cough on the ground. I couldn't get up now, even if I tried my hardest. Which I'm doing. My body simply can't recover quick enough. I catch a glimpse of blood running down Dizzy's side, and I realize there was nails in the board. I try to call out to her, but instead I end up coughing even more. Pitifully, I watch as the Super Mutant gets closer and closer to my wounded sibling.

"You can eat me if you can kill me, asshole!"

What is she doing? She doesn't have a weapon and you can't go toe-to-toe with a Super Mutant. But, then I see dad's combat knife laying just inches from her feet. Dizzy waits until the mutant is right on top of her, and then with strength and skill I've never seen in any other woman before, she grabs the knife, and uses his size against him. Wounded, Dizzy can still move quickly, whereas the mutant is too big and stupid to move his large body so fast. Getting behind him, Dizzy plunges the knife into his back, and lets her weight work as a lever. Dragging the knife down, she leaves a clean and fierce cut. Blood oozes out, as the mutant screams in pain. If there's other mutants around, they're going to find us.

The victory is short-lived, as the mutant grabs hold of Dizzy. Finally able to stand, I don't care that I have nothing in my hands to defend myself. I rush towards him. He holds Dizzy high in the air, over his head, and throws her to the ground. The sound of breaking bones echoes in my ear, and I freeze on the spot.

"…No…no, no, no…"

His laughter, the mutant's laughter, at Dizzy being injured sends me into a frenzy. I don't think. Just like I had with the Raiders, I let my impulses blindly lead me. The mutant is distracted, pleased with his work, and I jump on his back. Blood, his blood, soaks me. Figuring my right arm is already injured, there'll be no harm in injuring it more. Grabbing hold of the cut on his back best I can, I do the most vile thing. Inside his flesh, everything is warm. I do what I have to, to kill him, so that I can help my sister.

The mutant falls easy, from both blood loss and the pain I inflict on him. He doesn't have a swift death, and really I don't think he deserves one. His painful moans fall on unsympathetic ears, while he curses all humans under his breath. Not wanting to waste time, I run over to Dizzy, memories of the Raider attack flashing in my mind. Her leg moves, and she shakes her head back and forth. She isn't dead, and the weight that held me back is lifted.

"Dizzy…"

I say, crouching down beside her. Pain flashes over her face, and she hisses.

"It hurts."

"What hurts? What is it?"

I'm scared to touch her, because I know something is broken. I just don't know what.

"Radiation. Get it. Get it."

She says to me through clenched and angry teeth. Right, I forgot. Getting up, I run over to where my pack fell when the mutant grabbed me. Digging through it with my good hand, I find irradiated water. Mom took the time to write a big 'R' on it, so I wouldn't get confused. Going back to Dizzy, I unscrew the cap with my teeth, and hold it to her lips.

"I'll get you, human!"

Temporarily, I forgot about the second mutant. Scared, injured, I look over and see him running away. Why…I can't tell you. Maybe seeing his friend killed so mercilessly scared him away. Or maybe, he's just going to find another weapon. Either way, he's gone, and I put my attention back on Dizzy.

"Drink, drink…"

I know it'll all be okay, I'm just rushing from adrenaline and worried. Rightfully so, too. She could have easily died right then and there. Gulping down the water, I see her eyes roll back in pleasure. I wonder what it's really like, to be healed so easily and so well by a simple chemical. Obviously it doesn't hurt, and from the times I've used radiation on her, her skin gets a comfortable warm temperature. When she finished the bottle, she lays there for a minute as I throw the empty plastic thing aside.

"Much…much better."

She says, and I smile at her.

"Good…good."

And then, we start laughing. Laughing at the near-death moment, and laughing at how dumbfounded we were when we first saw the mutants. Dizzy sits up, sore, but healing. In her happiness, she smacks my arm. I hiss and pull back in pain.

"Careful!"

I snap at her, cradling my arm. Dizzy's face falls, as she looks at my mangled, and bloody arm.

"Cain…oh… oh shit, stay here."

"Dizzy, wait!"

I don't want her to get and waste her radiation. She looks back at me, and I swallow hard.

"Radiation it…it doesn't work."

"I know. I know, mom packed medical supplies."

"Do you know how to clean and dress wounds?"

Neither one of us thought of that when leaving home. Now, we're too far to turn back.

"Yeah, mom showed me how. She showed me lots of things. Growing up, I mean."

Dizzy doesn't wait any longer. She digs through the pack and finds an old lunchbox. It's beat up, old, and worn with time. Coming back over to me, she kneels down, smiling.

"Mom said, this is what she used to keep her supplies in before she was immune. Here. It'll help."

Pulling out a stimpack, Dizzy bites the tip off. She helps me take of the jacket she gave back to me earlier, and begins to dress the wound. It hurts when she stabs the stimpack in, and hurts even more to feel her poking around inside my arm with tweezers. But I take the pain. I know the sooner it gets out, the sooner it can heal. Grabbing a bottle of pure water, Dizzy begins to clean it after fishing out the bullet. Soon, it's healing up with the aid of the stimpack, and Dizzy begins to wrap it in gauze.

"There. Just…be more careful next time."

She tells me like she just saved me. I guess, actually, she did. If she hadn't distracted that Super Mutant, I could have very well died. Dizzy, saved my life today. I don't know how to act, or how to thank her. Instead, I just stare at her, stupid and letting the pain in my arm subside.

"…You saved me, you know."

I tell her, feeling sheepish and shy. She smiles, and stands up. Offering me her hand, I take it, and she pulls me to my feet.

"Payback, for saving me."

Dizzy carries the pack as we continue to follow the river to the Citadel Ruins. She claims it's because she wants to help, but really I think she's looking out for me. I can't express to you, the gratitude, and the waves of emotions I feel right now. All this time, I thought I'd have to protect myself along with Dizzy. And…now I realize, she's looking out for me, too.

As if the Super Mutant attack never happened, we continue onwards, laughing and giggling like ten-year-olds. Dizzy and I reminisce about the past, about our parents, and how everything turned out alright so far in the end. Throughout all of this, I keep my emotions in check. Refrain from kissing her. Refrain from pulling her close, and begging her to run away with me. It's an idea I thought of last night. That…maybe somewhere, there's a place for her and I. A place, where Dizzy and I could somehow…somehow be together. The feelings I feel for her, I know won't happen with any other woman. I don't think, I could love someone as much, as I've come to love her. I know it's wrong, but my father's words ring so loudly in my head. That I have one life, and it's mine to live. That…the ultimate sin, is denying the desires I have.

As night falls, we run into a trader. Dizzy swaps some of our lesser supplies, like our sleeping mats, for a big bottle of whiskey and we head on. I don't object, because maybe it's alright for us to lose sight of the big picture for the night. Lose sight of the dangers, and let loose to be free. She…she deserves, to feel the feeling of freedom, and I think… I deserve it, too.