I wake up and a fan is slowly turning above me. I hear laughing and giggling to my left and light beams through the windows behind me. Everything starts coming back, and I groan as I try to move my body. My limbs are sore still. They feel a lot better, but still sore. I look over and Max is in a bed across the room from me. Medical equipment litters the room, and an old man is standing at the end of the bed writing something down on a clip board.
Beside Max, sitting in a chair, is what I assume to be his wife and child, Cass and Wyatt. Wyatt has blonde hair with some red strands in it, I think they call it strawberry blonde. His wife has fire red hair and wears a flannel and straw hat. She has her hair tied back in a messy bun, and a shotgun leans against the foot of the bed. Max is making Wyatt laugh and giggle by pretending to take his nose. It makes me wish to have that some day.
Max's bandages make him look like a patchwork quilt. They litter his body and stitches riddle his face. A few more scars to add to his collection. He looks over at me and smiles.
"Hey you're awake." He says happily.
"Yea." I say with a dry, rough voice.
I begin to sit up slowly, my body stiff and aching.
"How do you feel?" He asks.
"Like shit." I say.
"Yea well, I'm just glad you're alive." He says.
"I'm glad we both are." I tell him.
"Well Cass and Wyatt, this is Ellie, Ellie, this is my family." Max says.
I nod and smile painfully, "pleased to meet you. I'd shake your hand but it hurts to move right now." I say with a chuckle.
Cass smirks with tired eyes, "it's alright. I'm thankful you brought my husband back to us. No tellin' what hell I'd raise if I'd have found out he got killed on some brotherhood bullshit." She says getting fired up.
"Hon, we talked about this." Max says calmly.
"Just don't see why it's gotta be you. We need you here." She says.
He nods, "I know, but this is how I keep you both safe. Alright?" He says.
She nods.
"Why don't you go home and rest. Now that Ellie's awake, Doc Mitchell will probably let us outta here soon." He suggests.
She sighs, "alright. We'll be waiting for you there." She says. She kisses him and Wyatt hugs him. Cass takes Wyatts hand and leaves.
The old man I'm assuming is Doc Mitchell is now standing beside me. He checks my body and writes a few things down.
"Well, you were in pretty rough shape. Both of you looked about dead when they brought you in from that storm. Max, you're down to seven lives." He says jokingly to him.
"Probably less than that honestly." He answers.
"Well, you're lookin' good now. Gave you a super stimpak to accelerate your healing. Nasty bite and cuts on your leg. Not to mention how your skin looked like a radiation pit with the blisters and all." He tells me.
"But i'm gonna be okay?" I ask.
"Yea, I'd say so. You'll be sore for a bit, carrying him took a toll on your body. Rest for a bit if you'd like, I won't be far if you need anythin'." He says and walks away.
I sigh, "well, what were those things?" I ask.
Max is already up and putting his shirt back on, "they're called tunnelers. Nasty things. They are venomous and extremely tough. They'll take a deathclaw down if given the chance. We're really lucky those flash bangs and dynamite sticks were there. They're scared of light and loud noises. They've slowly over the years made their way here. Didn't think they were that close though. NCR has exterminated a lot of nests, but guess they missed that one." He says shaking his head.
I shake my head, "well lucky you were there. I would have been dead."
"I should be the one thanking you. You carried me home, brought me back to my family," he says sitting on the bed and sighing, "Ellie, I owe you my life."
"You don't owe me anything Max. I wasn't going to just let you die." I say seriously.
We're silent for a moment. Finally, Max stands.
"C'mon. My girl probably has dinner cookin' and she'll kill me if it goes cold." He says jokingly.
I chuckle, "alright."
We both stand and bid our goodbyes to the doctor. He gives a friendly smile and nods and we walk out the door. The sun is extremely bright, blinding me for a few seconds. I hold my hand up to block my eyes. It reminds me of when I left the vault.
Max walks down the little hill and into the western town. It's very classic. A saloon to my right along with a general store. Houses, destroyed and in tact, litter the open space filling the rest of the town. Very small and quaint. I could see how someone would want to settle down here.
We walk towards the end of town to one of the houses that look exactly like the others. Stalks of what looks like corn grows outside and a little white fence surrounds the yard.
We walk in the door and little footsteps rush into the room and Wyatt attacks his father. Max kneels down and gives him a hug.
"I love you dad." He says lovingly.
"Love you too son." Max replies.
They let go and the boy turns to me.
"So, you're a real outsider huh lady?" He asks.
"Wyatt, she has a name remember?" Max says sternly.
"Well, what is it then?" He asks innocently.
"It's Ellie." Max tells him.
"Well Ellie, where are you from?" He asks.
"Well," I start, "i'm from a place called Boston, very far east of here."
"Wow!" He says excitedly with a boyish smile, "that must be a long ways away, seeing as how you don't speak like us or nothin'. Say, y'all got dino's out your way?" He asks.
"Like real ones?" I ask confused.
"Naw, like my dinky, here I'll show ya." He says. He quickly takes my hand and drags me to his room.
"Wyatt son, wait a minute." I hear Max calling following us.
Wyatt pulls me to his room and runs to his closet with his little legs flying as fast as they can. He grabs something out of his closet and runs back over. He shoves it in my hands clumsily and smiles.
"This here is Dinky the Dinosaur. Y'all got Dinky's out your way?" He asks.
"No, I don't believe we do." I tell him.
"Man, well then you're in luck. See Dinky here-" he starts saying when he's interrupted.
"Wyatt, come help me set the table." A woman's voice says. Cass walks into the doorway with Max following soon after.
"Awe but Ma!" He says whining.
"No buts sir. Get your hiney in that kitchen and set the table. I don't want to hear no complaints neither." She says crossing her arms and eyeing him seriously.
He furrows his brow and stomps off angrily.
"Sorry about him. He doesn't get to talk to anyone new so he's just excited." Cass explains.
"No need to be sorry. He's a cute kid." I say.
"Thanks. He keeps us on our toes that's for sure." She says with a chuckle.
We walk into the entryway and into the kitchen, "y'know, I can patch up your jumpsuit there. Got a few tears and holes from those pisshead Tunnelers." Cass says pointing to the hole in the leg of my jumpsuit.
"I don't want to bother you." I say.
"No, not a problem for me. When Max and I were out working together before we had Wyatt, I was constantly patching his clothes. He never would do it. He'd just throw the clothes away." She says shaking her head.
I laugh, "sounds like him."
"Hey!" He says as he sits at the table, Wyatt placing a bowl in front of him, "I can sew."
"Barely."Cass mumbles, "look, I got a pair of clothes you can borrow until I'm finished. I'll go grab them and you can change and then i'll get to work after dinner." She says walking to her room.
"Are you sure I mean-"
"Don't argue with me." She says seriously as she walks away.
My eyes widen as I look to Max.
"She means well." He says.
She returns with a red rocket mechanic jumpsuit and I head to the bathroom to change. Once I return I set my old jump suit on the back of my chair and see that dinner is already served.
"Hope you like chili." Cass says already halfway through her bowl.
"I do. It looks lovely." I say sitting and taking a bite.
"Good, cause we don't got nothin' else." She says jokingly.
"So," Max says, "you never got the chance to tell me more about yourself."
"What do you want to know?" I ask him.
"You were going to tell me about your son, Shaun right?" He asks.
"Yeah. That's right. Shaun's ten years old. He's got my hair, but my husbands eyes. He's very intelligent, at least from what I hear." I say eating another spoonful.
"From what you hear?" Max says confused.
I sigh, "yeah, Shaun was stolen from us when he was an infant."
"By who?" Cass asks.
"These...people called the Institute. They were a huge organization that would take people in the night or even the light of day and replace them with a synthetic version of themselves. They were exact copies, down to the very cells, and they lived and felt and grew old just as any human. They were just programmable. That was the institutes goal." I say.
Everyone's silent for a moment.
"That's terrifying." Max says.
"I know. They were very evil. You can't replace someone and strip them of their freedom. The freedom of choice is what makes us human. It's a right we're born with. They don't have the right to play god." I say disgusted the more I think about it.
"So why your baby? Why an infant?" Cass asks.
"Well," I say taking a breath, hesitating to to tell the truth, "my family and I, we're from before the war." I say.
Max's spoon drops and everyone freezes.
"What?" Cass says dumbfounded.
"It sounds crazy I know, but our family bought a spot in a fault on the hill above our house. On the day the bombs fell, we ran to the vault as fast as we could. People were lined up trying to get in but we were on the list. When they let us in and we were lowered down, the bomb detonated right as we went underground saving us from receiving any radiation. Then when we did get into the vault, they told us to get in these 'decontamination chambers'. Little did we know they were cryogenic stasis chambers. They wanted to experiment on is and test them. Luckily they worked and we lived, but the Institute found us, and when they saw we had little to no radiation exposure, and especially Shaun since he was an infant, they came to wake us up and take him." I say watching my husband get shot all over again in my head.
"What happened then?" Max asks.
"My husband, Nate, wouldn't let them take our baby. He fought as best he could still recovering from stasis, but….he was shot and killed, and they took Shaun. I watched the whole thing." I say tears welling up in my eyes.
"I'm so sorry." Max says.
"Bastards." Cass mumbles angrily.
I nod, "yea well I vowed to take revenge on my husband and get our baby back. Ten years went by before I was unfrozen again and I set our to find who did it and destroy them. I joined the Brotherhood along the way, since they had the same enemy and a genuine interest in the good of the people, and we took down the institute. I...left shortly after for," I say pausing for a moment, "reasons I'm not proud of. The Brotherhood ended up finding Shaun and taking him back to base. In that time, Shaun was kidnapped again by the Enclave. So, that's why i'm here."
It's silent for a moment before Max finally speaks up.
"We'll get him back. You have my word. I'll stick with you until the end." He says seriously.
"Max, you don't have to stay with me. After this deal, stay here with your family." I tell him.
He looks to Cass and they have a silent conversation it seems like. She shakes her head, like she's giving him permission.
"I'm going with you. I can hold my own, and Cass knows. So just let me help you, cause I would hope someone would do the same for me." He says genuinely.
"We're going to help you any way we can." Cass says, "and Max is his own man. If he wants to go with you, I can't stop him. I don't love the idea, but I have to respect it. Just promise me one thing." She says.
"Yes?" I say.
"Bring him home safe. Cause if you don't, i'll hunt you down and kill you myself." She says seriously.
I nod, "fair enough."
"Alright, then it's settled. We'll head out in the mornin'." He says.
I nod and we finish up our chili.
"Dad, you're leaving again?" Wyatt says sadly.
He nods, "we're going to go rescue a boy like you. Bring him home to his momma. I promise I'll come home. It won't take long." He says.
"But what if you don't." He says tears welling up in his eyes as he crawls in Max's lap.
"Have I ever lied to you?" He asks.
The bot shakes his head no.
"Then why would I lie this time?" He asks him.
Wyatt shrugs his shoulders.
Max sighs and smiles, "excuse me, I'm just going to go put him to bed and talk to him for a bit. See you in the morning?" He asks me.
"Yea. Sleep tight Wyatt." I say as I wave to him.
He gives me a sad wave over Max's shoulder as he carries him to his room.
"He's a good dad." I tell Cass.
She nods, "he is."
"Well, I'm going to go to bed. Thank you for your kindness." I say.
"Don't mention it. I'll patch that suit up for the morning. It'll be sitting on the chair when it's done. Sleep well Ellie." She says rising and yawning.
I nod, "you too."
I walk to the spare bedroom and close the door. I fall into the bed and fall asleep almost instantly.