(Cain)

Dizzy and I somehow got out. I thought my dad would have woken, and caught us, but he didn't. We're a few hours into our trip, and didn't really stop to sleep. We wanted to get as far away from Megaton as we could, heading North according to my map, in as little time as possible. That way if dad followed, we'd have a bigger head start than he thought.

"Man, this is really tiring."

Neither Dizzy nor I have ever walked so far. In reality, the Citadel Ruins aren't very far from Megaton. This trip is further than that, plus we're on a time schedule, and on top of that, we're heading to a place neither one of us has been. It has all the makings of a great adventure.

"Yeah, this isn't going to be an easy stroll in Megaton."

"But at least we're together, right?"

Dizzy says to me, moving closer. Out here, we're alone and nobody knows us. The only thing holding me back from wanting to do all that I want, is my own mental blocks. I think, though, they're there for a reason.

"Yeah, I guess you're right on that one."

I tell her, putting space between us. Dizzy…Dizzy doesn't yet understand, that no matter what, I will always have to be her big brother. I can't be her lover, her confident. All I can be, is who I've been to her our entire life. I know…that she wants more. She wants it, as badly as I do. But despite our wants, we're still related in a way. We still have genetic makeup that matches. Although…it's not much, but, it's just enough to keep us apart.

"Say, Cain?"

"Hm?"

My feet are tired, and my mind is even more exhausted. But, the further we move without resting, the lesser chance we have of dad finding us. And then probably skinning us alive.

"You think…we'll be able to do it? You know, get mom the cure?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't we? I mean, we're the offspring of the two greatest people who ever walked the Capital Wasteland. It's in our genetics."

I make it a point to remind her of our relations. But a subtle reminder.

"No, Cain. I'm the offspring of the two greatest people who've ever walked the Capital Wasteland. You're just a clone."

"Rub it in why don't you."

"Does it feel different? You know, being a clone?"

I shrug, and wiggle my fingers. My rifle is strapped to my back, and Dizzy's gun to her waist. We're not all that prepared, or even paying attention. I'm hoping this trip doesn't take as long as I predict. Or else, we very well may be screwed.

"I don't know. I mean, how am I supposed to feel? I feel like a normal person, if that's what you're asking. However a normal person is supposed to feel…"

"I thought it like, felt different I guess."

"Emotionally, I thought it would feel different. You love mom and dad, right?"

"Dizzy of course I do. Just because I didn't come from mom, doesn't mean I don't love her like my mother. She saved me."

"How'd you take that, anyways? You know, being saved and all."

No one's ever really asked me that. So, really, I've never gave it much thought. Thinking back to that time though, it makes a lump in my stomach. A pitfall kind of feeling. I grab the front of my shirt, to try and ease the memories.

"I was scared. One day, I wake up and I'm in the same place I had always been. Then, as the day goes on, alarms go off. People shove us kids into our room. They lock the doors, and we waited. It wasn't soundproof. We heard the screams, the gunshots, the explosions, all of it. All of us were scared. Some of us had just moved into that room, so they didn't know what to expect. Others thought it was another test. Then mom opens the door, and then all the kids point to me. I remember, thinking she looked so scary. But then I saw her eyes, and I…honestly I never wanted her to go. When she took my hand, and put me on her back…I felt safe. She was warm, and sweaty. When I saw dad I was mortified, but I didn't say anything. Then they took me out, and asked if I wanted to live with them. I agreed, because…I felt…safe. Scared, but safe, with mom and dad."

"Did they name you?"

"Yeah, dad did. He said it meant 'son of the fighter'. He called me his own, even still after you were born. I was his son, and he was my father. Dad…dad never made me feel like I didn't belong."

"What about when you got older? Didn't you ever ask dad about…you know, being part of the family?"

"I did. Once I had gotten in trouble. I did something stupid, and you were just a baby back then. Dad and mom grounded me, but, I got scared. So I cried. When dad came in my room later, and I was still crying, he asked why. I told him I was scared they were going to send me back. And that I'd lose all the great things they had given me. Then, dad said, he'd die, before letting anyone take me back there. That I was his son, and there was nothing I could ever do about it, like it or not."

"From what little I know about dad, his life started out really rough. But, you know, he's a great dad."

"He is, Dizzy. You don't even know the half of it."

We pass a small abandoned shack to our right. I can tell Dizzy wants to go explore it, but her fatigue prevents that. We should find a place to rest, and sleep, soon. I know that we'll be far enough away from dad's reach to do that soon, so I begin to scan the area.

"What do you mean?"

Dizzy asks me, and up ahead I see an abandoned building. It has a second floor, even though it's half-exposed. It'll be good hiding, from the dangers this land has. There's few of those dangers, but, I don't want to take the chance of being caught off guard.

"Dad would die, before letting anything happen to us. And of course, mom. His family comes first, and he holds us in high regard. Most fathers or mothers will leave their children out here. I'm not sure why, but it happens. Erin's mother used to leave her alone in Megaton all the time. But mom and dad…they wouldn't dare think of that. Sure they go out, but they come home. They love us. And dad, as emotionless as he seems, has a lot of love. Especially for you."

"Me? No way. Dad took you out to shoot. He never did that to me."

"He was teaching me how to protect you. He always talked about you, still does, and worried. You, really, are his only child."

"But you're his clone. So, there's another part of him around."

"No. Not in the same sense. He created you. People, scientists, created me."

We come to the broken home, or building, whatever it was. It doesn't look like a place of business, and it's too oddly shaped to be a house. It looks like it might have been some form of place of worship. Dizzy looks around, with newfound curiosity, as I lead her towards the old, wooden and broken stairs that will take us up to safety.

"Come on, Diz, we have to get up here."

"It's early, though."

"Doesn't matter, we've walked a lot in such a short time. Our bodies are useless if we're exhausted, no matter how much ammo we have."

At first she seems nervous, and looks around the Capital Wasteland. There's no real standing walls here. There's one, which is the main support. I know this place could collapse, but, if it did, there isn't enough to it to kill us. Maybe give us a few uncomfortable bruises, but not kill. There's no one around us, as I join in her scanning. No people, wanderers, or threats. The regrowth that Megaton gives to the land, with help from the G.E.C.K hasn't spread this far into the Wastes. It won't in my lifetime, either. It hardly goes beyond two miles of Megaton, and even then, all there is, is soil instead of the hard sediment we're walking on now.

It's change, nonetheless. Dad use to tell me stories of pre-war, and how he and mom hope to live to see the world just as green as it was back then. I have no doubt they'll live to see that. As old as dad is, he's strong. Ghouls his age die out quicker with each day, just due to their age, and whatnot. But dad is different. He has mom and Dizzy to continue to take care of and worry about. Plus, Dr. Barrows gives him special pills. He doesn't know that I know about them, but I do. Dr. Barrows told me, they helped with his aging. Slowed down the process by more than half, so long as he took them every day. I know he does, too, because dad has too much to live for these days. Death, takes a backseat on dad's list of things to do.

Getting to the top of the stairs, I see on the second floor there's a sleeping mat near the wall that we'll be resting against. It provides cover from the sun, as well as enemies. Unless they're looking, they won't see us up here.

"Wonder how mom got use to sleeping in such strange places?"

Dizzy ponders, walking over to the sleeping mat and sitting down. She takes her gun off of her hip, and yawns loudly.

"Do something enough, and you get use to it."

"Yeah I suppose. Hey, you know what?"

"What?"

"I think we make a good team. If dad trained you to protect me, then I have nothing to worry about."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because I know you. You'll die before anything happens to me. Just like dad."

"Sure would. Dad would kill me if I didn't."

I sit down beside her, as I take my gun from my back. I didn't realize just how sore my legs were, until I stopped walking.

"Man, walking this much is painful."

I tell Dizzy as she puts her arms behind her head, laying down. She stares up at the sky.

"You said mom found you?"

Dizzy asks, and I look down at her. She's obviously exhausted, but doesn't want to sleep.

"Yeah, mom found me. I don't know why her and dad were there, but, they were. They said something about closure, a long time ago. Since then I never really asked about it."

"When I was born, were you happy?"

"What? Of course I was, Dizzy. I was very excited back then. I had a new home, parents, a great life. Dad and mom did all they could to make sure I didn't feel outcasted when you were born. In fact, when Gob took me in to see you a few hours after you arrived, mom said 'Cain, this is your child as well as ours. You must keep her safe. Protect her.' And I have."

Dizzy stares at me for a long while, strong, and silent. She seems like she's thinking things over, what those things are, I'm not sure of. It seems like an eternity passes, before she says anything.

"I'm happy, when you're with me."

I say nothing to her, as she sits up and leans against me. Her head rests against my shoulder, as her arms wrap me in a warm hug. Quietly, for the moment, I close my eyes and keep silent. I'm happy, too, when she is with me.
"Cain?"

Turning my head to look at her, our matching blue eyes meet. Her lips are round, and plump like our mother's. She has this lost look of innocence on her face. Suddenly, I don't feel too worried, about boundaries and circumstances.

"Out here, nobody…nobody knows us and…and I think…we should take advantage of that."

"Dizzy…what're you getting at?"

Dizzy picks her head up, still watching me. I follow her movements, as she goes from sitting beside me, to on top of me. Straddling me with her thighs. Red flags, warnings, they go up in my mind and flash at me. But, I can't shake her point. Her objective thinking, in knowing that out here we can be anybody we want. That out here, is the definition of pure freedom.

"It's alright, as long…as long as we're out here."

I can't describe what happens next. I can't fully express it to you. My mind seems to block everything out. The possibility of threats, the time of day it is, where we are, everything. In fact, the only thing I can truly focus on, is Dizzy. Her scent invades me, and her touch warms me. I feel something wake inside of me, that I've never felt before. It's strong, undeniably so, and powerful. As her lips meet mine, and I don't pull away, that feeling only grows. With each second, it gains power. With each touch, taste, kiss, it intensifies. I know it isn't lust, or love, because I feel both of those already. No, what I'm feeling now, is deeper than that. Stronger. A dependency on Dizzy. It makes my heart race, to where I feel it whirring, instead of beating.

"We…shouldn't…"

I try to tell her, from somewhere in the recesses of my mind. But she doesn't hear me, and I realize that I never said it aloud. That I only thought it. In the midst of it all, I've forgotten how to speak. I've moved Dizzy to the wooden floor, and positioned myself on top of her. There's so many things wrong with this. So many things, that I'll regret and fear when it's over. Everything, everything goes against this. And yet, all at once, none of that seems to matter. This emotion, feeling, call it what you will, it grows inside of me. It will prevent me from tearing her clothes off, but keep me from ever letting any harm come to her. This…sensation is…blinding.