Tatum brushed off her dirt stained hands on her dirt stained jeans. It seemed like everything she owned was covered in dirt. She didn't mind though, at least it was dirt she collected from hard work instead of just having to live in the filth. Only two years ago, when she was 17 years old, she had been living alone after raiders killed her father. After his death, 12 year old Tatum had taken up residence in an abandoned gas station. It still had a couple supplies that no one had claimed yet. More importantly, it had a hidden basement under the cash register's counter. She would slid open the counter's door and pull up on the wood that covered the hole to the basement.

Several skeletons were huddled together in the hidden basement. Tatum didn't like to go down there because of them but when trouble came to her gas station, it was the best place to hide. She would gather food and supplies during the day and take refuge in her basement at night. Life was going pretty well for her for five years, until raiders came to ruin her life again. Tatum had hoped they would stay for a day or two, like all the others, and then move on. However it didn't seem like they were going to be leaving anytime soon.

She had stored enough food and supplies to last two weeks, if she used them sparingly. After 15 days, the raiders were still there. On the 16th night, Tatum made her move. She waited until it was quiet and then crept out of her hole and snuck past several unconscious raiders, too stoned to notice her. Once she was far enough away she ran at full speed and prayed that none of the Raiders would find her.

Tatum had run the entire night, stopping only once to catch her breath. By morning she was exhausted. She found the nearest abandoned building and fell asleep under the bed. For several months she wandered the ruined city and hid from every sound. Until one day two ghouls found her sleeping under a bridge. They took Tatum in and treated her as family for the next two years.

"Tate?" Rachelle patted the 19 year old girl on the shoulder. "Daydreaming again?" The old ghoul chuckled at Tatum's surprised face.

"Sorry." She smiled at Rachelle and stood, brushing her knees off. "Were you saying something?"

"Pa needs you to change that light bulb in the kitchen." Rachelle gestured to the house. "I'll take over here." She knelt down and pulled at the weeds surrounding the carrots they had planted. Tatum made her way towards Derrell who was erecting a ladder inside the house. Rachelle was terrified of heights and Derrell was so old that he didn't trust himself on ladders, which left Tatum.

Rachelle and Derrell were father and daughter, both prewar ghouls. Derrell was in his 60's when the bombs fell and Rachelle was in her early 40's. Tatum had learned that Rachelle had a family of her own, two sons and a loving husband. However, none of them survived when the bombs dropped. Rachelle was like a mother to Tatum, loving and when necessary, disciplinary.

"You're dirtier than a mole rat, child." Derrell teased as he plucked the handkerchief from his pocket and wiped at Tatum's face, she swatted his hand away with a giggle. He had a southern drawl, and always wore cowboy boots and a wide brimmed hat. Rachelle was the opposite. She always wore a nice flowy summer dress, the kind the housewives wore before the bombs. She also had a dark brown wig that almost never came off.

Tatum climbed up the ladder and unscrewed the broken bulb and replaced it with the new one. Derrell held the ladder for her until she was finished and safely back on the ground. He clicked on the switch and the room lit up.

"Atta girl." He praised and Tatum beamed. A deep, loud hum echoed through the house. "What in tarnation?" Derrell spun around and looked out the window. "The generator?" He questioned as the two of them joined Rachelle outside.

"Look!" Tatum pointed to the sky where a large flying blimp floated overhead. Several smaller flying ships were released from the larger one and flew around it. Her eyes were glued to the massive flying machine, she had never seen anything like it. Rachelle and Derrell shared a concerned look.

"People of the Commonwealth!" A voice rang out across the land. "Do not interfere, our intentions are peaceful. We are the Brotherhood of Steel."

"What are they doing here?" Derrell barely hid the contempt in his voice. "Seems like everywhere we go those yahoos are always a step behind."

"Who are they?" Tatum turned to look at the old ghoul.

"The Brotherhood of Steel are nothing but racist hypocrites. They kill anything and everything that isn't human." Rachelle explained.

"Or human enough." Derrell added bitterly.

"They hoard technology, claiming that no one else can have any because they'll ruin the world with it. But I don't trust them with it either." Rachelle clapped the dirt from her hands and shook her head disapprovingly. "I'm going to start dinner." Tatum looked up into the sky and watched as the ships flew into the distance, getting smaller and smaller.

Two weeks had gone by since the Brotherhood of Steel had come to the Commonwealth and life had gone on as normal. Tatum tended the garden while Derrell repaired what he could inside the house. Rachelle offered assistance wherever she was needed. Every once and a while one of the smaller flying ships, that Derrell called "vertibirds", would fly overhead. Tatum stopped every time one of them did and watched. There was always a pilot, and several people in large metal suits and other strange outfits, in the back. There was also a large gun attached to the side.

Tatum thought they were interesting but from the stories her ghoul family told, they sounded awful. Maybe I'll meet them one day. She thought hopefully, but would never utter the words out loud. So far it seemed like they only killed super mutants and raiders. That didn't seem like a bad thing to her, but Rachelle and Derrell still seemed wary.

"Tate, your head is in the clouds again." Rachelle poked her in the ribs and she squealed. "I swear, you lose your head more often than you find it."

"I can't help it." Tatum scooped a spoonful of InstaMash in to her mouth. "The world is such a big place… There's so much to think about."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Rachelle scolded.

"It is a big place." Derrell agreed. "Too big." He folded his hands across his lap and bowed his head. "You know what's out there, the safest place for you is with us." His eyes darted over to where his shotgun rest against the wall.

"I know…" I know you're afraid of the world, but I'm not. Is what Tatum wanted to say, but she thought better of it and took another bite of her food. The now, all too familiar, sound of a vertibird could be heard in the distance. Tatum jumped up from her seat and rushed outside.

"That child…" Derrell swore under his breath.

"Pa! She's climbing up on to the roof!" Rachelle could see Tatum placing the ladder against the side of the house and climbing up. The two ghouls hopped out of their chairs and raced outside. "Tatum! You get down here right now!" Rachelle yelled at the top of her lungs in her raspy ghoul voice.

"But they're heading this way! I wanna see them." Tatum hopped up and down like a child waiting for the ice cream man.

"Get down here before they see you!" It was Derrell's turn to yell.

"Stop jumping around, you're going to fall!" Rachelle shrieked just as Tatum's foot slipped and she came tumbling to the edge of the roof. She caught herself on the gutter and dangled two-stories from the ground. She screamed and her legs swung violently, kicking the ladder away from the house. It landed with a THUD.

"Help!" She bawled and tried to pull herself back on to the roof but the old nails holding the gutter against the roof came out and it bent under her weight. She screamed again as Derrell and Rachelle frantically tried to raise the ladder back against the wall.

"I'll catch you!" Derrell promised with his arms outstretched.

"No!" Tatum cried.

"It's alright, you're going to be alright." Derrell kept reassuring her. Rachelle was the first to notice the whirring sound of the minigun spinning. She turned just in time to see the bullets flying at her and her father as two Brotherhood soldiers dropped from the vertibird.

Tatum could hear the gun, hear the vertibird close by, and could hear Rachelle's terrified scream. But she couldn't see any of it from where she was hanging. Derrell's shouts of reassurance had stopped, Rachelle's cries of concern were gone as well.

"Help!" Tatum called trying to look over her shoulder. Her hands were slipping and more and more of the gutter was pulling away from the wall. There was a THUNK on the wall near her. It startled her and she flinched, losing her grip. She screamed all the way down, squeezing her eyes shut. She waited for the CRUNCH that would inevitably happen once she hit the ground. But it never happened. Instead she was caught by a Brotherhood soldier that had climbed part way up the ladder.

"I gotcha!" He called as he pulled the girl close to him. "I gotcha." Tatum kept her eyes shut tight, and her arms around the soldier's neck even tighter, as they descended the ladder. Once safely on the ground, the soldier set her down. Only once she was on her feet did she open her eyes. She looked up at the man in front of her. He was tall, in his 30's, and muscular.

"Thank you." She could barely make the words audible, but he heard her well enough.

"Just doing my job." He said. "What's a young girl like you doing all by herself out here?" Tatum was confused by his question.

"I'm not by myself… My family is with me." She turned away from the soldier and towards the house where Derrell and Rachelle had been. Their bloody bodies were in pieces, scattered across the lawn. The shriek of horror that tore itself from Tatum's lips caused her knees to give out from under her. She sobbed into her hands as her whole body shook. Every ounce of hope, love, life, joy, had been sucked from her and she shriveled into a ball on the ground. A sobbing, trembling ball.

"Civilian?!" The solider jumped back startled. He desperately looked around at his comrades who were all just as confused as he was. A scribe hopped off the vertibird, which had landed in a clearing near the house, and ran over towards the soldier and civilian girl.

"I got it." She said and pushed back on the soldier. He stepped away and gave the two women space. She visually checked to see if the girl had any injuries on her, but couldn't see any. "What's wrong?" She asked placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. Tatum jerked away. She stared at the scribe in horror and disgust as she crawled, backwards, away from her.

"You killed them!" Tatum screamed. "You killed them!"

"The ghouls?" The scribe asked, more confused now than she was before.

"My family!" Tatum could barely breathe, her stomach felt like it was in her throat. She leaned over and threw up all the contents of her stomach. The scribe looked at her comrades. One soldier pointed to the pile of ghoul pieces and mouthed: "family?" The scribe nodded.

"Those ghouls were your family? But weren't they trying to get you?" The scribe asked but Tatum was too upset to reply. "That's why you were on the roof, right? They chased you up there?"

Tatum tried to respond, to tell them they fucking murdered her family, that she was only on the roof to get a better look at them, and that her family was concerned for her when she slipped. But none of that mattered now, they were dead. She was alone again. The scribe stood and made her way back to the man in the large metal suit.

"Sir?" She asked. Her commanding officer thought for a moment.

"If those ghouls weren't feral, then we just killed her family. As… deplorable as it is, that was her family." The paladin paused, deep in thought. "We'll take her back with us. We've made a grave mistake. Maybe Elder Maxson can help this girl."

Tatum didn't fight against them as they carried her to the vertibird, she had no reason to. Whatever they did to her didn't matter, her life had ended when they killed her family. She sat, limp, in her seat as they buckled her in. She had wanted to ride in a vertibird since she first saw them, and now she was getting her wish. Although now, she didn't want to have anything to do with it. The entire ride, Tatum sat with her knees to her chest, crying her eyes out. She had lost her mother when she was very young. So young that she couldn't remember what she looked like, how she sounded, how she felt. Then her father died while trying to protect her from raiders. He held them off as she ran. She went back several days later and found his body impaled on a pole. And now, now the ghouls that had been hated their entire postwar lives simply because they were unfortunate enough to live, were torn to pieces by a minigun.

I should have stayed inside. Why did I have to climb up to the roof? If I hadn't, they would still be alive. Their death is entirely my fault. Mine and these horrid people.

The vertibird approached the large ship and turned to face away from it. A large, claw-like, metal arm attached itself to the vertibird and pulled it into place. The pilot shut off the engine and unbuckled. The scribe woman unbuckled herself and slowly grabbed Tatum's seatbelt.

"We're here. This is the Prydwen, it's the Brotherhood of Steel's main base. Well, this and the airport below us." She explained but Tatum felt hollow. Silent tears still streaked down her face. The belt clicked and the scribe pulled it away from her. "Come on." She held out her hand but Tatum ignored it. She remained seated, no will to move. "Please." The scribe encouraged as she gently tugged on Tatum's hand. The young girl relented and let her feet fall out from under her and land on the metal floor. She numbly walked behind the scribe as she led her off the vertibird, with the assistance of the paladin who grabbed her under the arms like a father would do with his small daughter.

He carefully set Tatum down, and made a circular gesture in the air with his hand. Every member of the Brotherhood that had been on the vertibird circled around Tatum, preventing her from going anywhere that they didn't want her to, like over the railing.

The group moved forward and made a sharp right towards a flight of stairs that led into the ship. All around was metal. Metal walkways, metal railings, metal stairs, and metal men. This ship felt like the coldest place on earth. Inside the Prydwen wasn't much better, just as metal and just as cold.

The group led Tatum towards an open room with large windows in the front. A man in a big coat and a dark brotherhood suit stood at the windows, looking out into the night. He turned when the group approached.

"Paladin Ryker, welcome back." He eyed the group of soldiers and Tatum hid behind the large man that had caught her when she fell from the roof. "The mission was a success?" He asked, slightly suspicious that the whole squad had come to give the report.

"Yes sir." The paladin answered with a salute, his fist over his chest. "The super mutants are no more."

"Good." Their leader, the man with dark hair and piercing green eyes said. "However?" He asked, his expression never changing from the stern look that seemed permanently etched on to his face.

"However, on our way back…" The paladin paused as if he was trying to come up with the words to explain the massacre they had brought upon Tatum's family. "On our way back there was an unfortunate mishap." He turned slightly to look behind him and found Tatum hiding behind the soldier. He reached for her and brought her forward. "We thought we were rescuing this girl from some ferals." Tatum tried to hide when the man's cold eyes met hers, but the paladin had a firm grasp on her arm. "We saw the girl standing on a rooftop and two ghouls on the ground below her. She slipped and was clinging to the side for dear life as the ghouls reached out to get her. We quickly stepped in to action, protecting the people of the commonwealth is one of our main priorities—"

Their leader cut him off, "I am well aware of our priorities paladin. Now tell me where you made a mistake." His words were just as cold as his eyes.

"It turns out that those ghouls were not ferals. They were… her family. From where we were standing it looked as if they were trying to attack her. Sir." He concluded his story quickly and snapped another salute, the rest of the group followed his lead. The leader looked at each of his men, and woman, and saw that they seemed ready to accept any form of punishment. The man looked at Tatum, she averted her eyes from his.

"You killed her ghoul family, and brought her to me?" He clarified. The paladin nodded and affirmed with a "sir". He looked from the paladin back to Tatum. And took a deep, frustrated breath. "Dismissed. Leave the girl here. We'll have words later, paladin." He was just about the scariest man Tatum had ever seen. More terrifying than any raider. He had so much power, an entire ship full of men and women that would follow his every command. And now she was going to be alone with him.

The group of soldiers left the room and climbed a ladder to another part of the ship. Tatum watched as they, one by one, climbed the ladder and left her with their leader. She held her breath when the last person, the scribe woman, had vanished from her sight. Slowly she turned her attention to the man that stood before her.

"I am Elder Maxson. Welcome to the Brotherhood of Steel." He said without batting an eye. Tatum stared at him, really getting a good look for the first time. He was taller than her, muscular with dark hair that was shaved on the sides and long on top. He had a thick beard and had several scars on his face, the most prominent was the one under his right eye.

"What?" Tatum finally found her voice.

"It was my men that removed you from your home, so I will bestow upon you a new home. The Brotherhood." He said this so matter-of-factly that Tatum had to do a double-take.

"You want me to join you? After you killed my family!?" Her voice was steadily coming back to her, and it was strong. "I don't want to join you people! I want to go home!" She was screaming at him and he didn't flinch. He watched the girl as she vented her anger. "You mother fuckers killed my family! Your stupid gun ruined our house! I just wanted to see your stupid vertibird! I hate you!" She continued screaming until she was wracked with tears. Her body falling to the floor as she doubled over and wept. Elder Maxson continued to watch as she exhausted herself. He waited patiently for her sobs to lessen before he spoke.

"I understand your hatred towards us. They made a mistake and they will be punished for jumping to false conclusions." He stated. "I am offering you a new home, since your other one was taken from you."

"Go to hell." Tatum looked up at him from where she was crouching and stared him straight in the eyes for the first time. "You and everyone on this ship." For the first time she saw a bit of anger in his cold and calculating eyes. Her courage was rapidly depleting.

"Very well." He said as calm as always. "Knight!" He called and another man in a metal suit came in to the room.

"Sir." He acknowledged.

"Take this girl to Paladin Danse's quarters and stand guard outside the room. If you see him on your way, tell him I would have a word with him." The knight saluted Elder Maxson and turned towards Tatum. Elder Maxson spoke: "Go with him. It is clear that you have been through a lot today and need a moment to yourself." She didn't feel like having the metal man forcefully drag her through the ship so she mustered up all her strength and got to her feet. Elder Maxson gave the knight a dismissive nod and Tatum followed him out of the room.

They climbed the ladder to the Prydwen's main deck and stopped at the door to the left of the ladder. The knight knocked on it, metal on metal, and waited for a reply. There wasn't one so he opened the door. Tatum peeked inside. There were lockers, metal of course, and a desk, also metal. A bed, and a dog dish. The blue plastic dog dish stood out amongst all the harsh metal. She stepped inside to get a better look around and jumped when the door was slammed behind her.

"Hey!" She pounded on the door with her fists, not even testing the handle. It was a gesture of frustration more than anything. She took a deep breath, the room smelled like oil and… cologne? It wasn't a terrible smell, she had smelled worse. She jumped again as the loud speaker overheard clicked on.

"Paladin Danse, report to the lower deck." A man's voice, but not Elder Maxson's, announced. Paladin Danse… Tatum thought. That's the name of the person whose room I'm in. She stood in the center of the room for several minutes, unsure what she should do. On one hand she wanted to destroy everything in the room. On the other hand she figured that wouldn't be smart and she should probably just wait until someone tells her she can go.

Where am I going to go? She asked herself. My family is dead, and they're… pieces are still scattered across the lawn. She couldn't go back and see that again. The image of her father, impaled on a post, still haunted her dreams. Surely, this nightmare would too.

Tired of standing and feeling completely overwhelmed, Tatum retreated to the bed. She sat down carefully, afraid that the moment she sat, Paladin Danse would come barging in and demand she be thrown overboard. Of course, no such thing happened. Her head pounded like a supersledge and her eyes stung like they were being radiated. Her legs felt like sacks of potatoes and her arms shook like a junkie's. There was a heavy pressure on her chest, she figured it was her heart exploding.

Exhausted to the point of hysteria, Tatum fell backwards on to the bed. She tucked her legs up and wrapped her arms around them defensively. Within moments she was drifting off to sleep.

Twelve year old Tatum clung to her father's leg. At least ten raiders stood in front of them, blocking their escape. In one hand, her father held her close, the other held a 10mm pistol.

"Think you can come in to our home and just take whatever you want?" The raider with the blood splattered boots sneered.

"I didn't know the area was claimed. We didn't take anything, we'll just be on our way." Tatum's father spoke calmly and precisely.

"Hear that boys?" Bloody Boots laughed. "They're just gonna go on their way." The rest of the raiders joined him, laughing and pointing at the two of them.

"Please, I have caps. Let us go." Her father didn't move to reach for the caps, he maintained his grip on his daughter and his gun.

"'Ere's an idea." The raider with the broken nose spoke up. "'Ow 'bout we take yer caps, and yer daughter…" He licked his lips and made an obscene slurping noise. The others howled with laughter. Tatum gripped her father tighter and he patted her on the shoulder five times: quick, slow, slow, quick, slow. It was their code for: "Get the hell out of here and hide." Tears welled up in her eyes but she tapped her father back: slow, quick, quick, slow, quick.

As soon as he felt the last tap, he unloaded his gun on as many raiders as he could. Tatum turned and sprinted towards the door without looking back to see if her father was alright. She ran until her legs couldn't carry her anymore. Her knees gave out and she skidded to the ground, crying out as the pavement skinned her knees, elbows, hands, and chin.

Feeling dread spread throughout her body like ice in her veins, she got to her feet and made her way back to the raider den. Slowly her feet propelled her forward, her legs felt like jelly. When she reached the door she pressed her ear to it. There was no sign of the raiders, so she pull it open and cautiously stepped inside. Turning down the halls, dimly lit by candles that were almost burnt out, she made her way back to the room she had left her father in.

The scent of blood filled her nose and she fought back the bile that rose in her throat. There, in the center of the room was her father, impaled on a metal pole like some kind of flag. She was so horrified she couldn't even scream. She stared as her head tried to keep up with her eyes. What is this? That can't be him. It can't be. His foot twitched and the smallest of moans could be heard. She raced forward, not thinking about anything except the fact that her father could still be alive and he needed her help.

A mine on the floor starting beeping and Tatum threw herself forward, clinging to her father's body as she screamed.

Elder Maxson stiffened as the girl clung to him, screaming. With a straight face he turned his head to look at Paladin Danse. Danse's eyebrows shot upwards and his eyes widened but he didn't say a word. Maxson looked down at the girl who was still half asleep and bawling her eyes out as she clung to his waist. He cleared his throat loudly. Finally she opened her eyes and the realization of where she was hit her like a ton of bricks. She released Maxson like he was a bloatfly and jumped off the bed to get as far away from the men as possible. She looked like a caged wild animal, growling from the corner.

"For a moment there, I thought you didn't hate me." Maxson glanced at Danse then turned his attention back to Tatum. "Bad dream?"

"Just reliving the past…" She spat. "Not that it matters to you."

"Clearly." He said, his anger starting to get the better of him. He checked himself and took a deep breath. "If I didn't care for your well being, you would not be aboard my ship."

"Why do you care?" She was yelling.

"Because my men made a mistake, therefore I made a mistake. And I don't walk away from my problems."

"Well don't worry about it. I can take care of myself." She looked at paladin Danse who was showing every bit of anger that Maxson was feeling. "I don't want your help. Your people have done enough."

"You ungrateful—" Danse started to scold but was silenced by Elder Maxson raising his hand.

"It's alright paladin. She has every right to be upset, she just lost her… family."

"Stop it! Stop saying it like that!" She was throwing a full blown tantrum now, stomping feet and red faced as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "They were my family. They loved me and I loved them! What the hell is wrong with you? They warned me about the Brotherhood… they warned me but I didn't listen." She was losing steam. "I should have listened." She buried her face in her hands again. Why didn't I listen?

"And what is it, exactly, that they warned you about?" Maxson was curious to hear what the Commonwealth had to say about him and his army.

"They said that you were hypocrites and racists." She sobbed.

"Hypocrites?!" Danse repeated. "In what way?" Maxson let him ask because he wanted to know too.

"You take all the prewar technology and hoard it for yourselves."

"This is true." Maxson spoke. "What else?"

"That you kill anyone that's not human."

"This is also, mostly, true. We are trying to rid the world of the abominations that walk around as if they aren't diseased, mutated freaks."

"That's my FAMILY you're talking about!" She grabbed the nearest object, an alarm clock, and threw it at Elder Maxson with all her strength. He caught it easily and handed it to Danse who had taken several steps towards Tatum.

"I already told you that the extermination of your family," the word seemed difficult for him to say. "Was a mistake. I was not including them in my previous statement." Elder Maxson still remained calm while paladin Danse was fuming. Smoke was practically coming out of his ears.

"But they still killed them and nothing, nothing, you do can make it better." She said with the most clarity she's had all day.

"I know." He took a step towards the door. "Come with me. The paladin requires his room now." He reached for the handle and saw that Tatum hadn't moved. "That was not a request, civilian."

"I'm not going anywhere near him." She pointed at a still very pissed off Danse.

"Stand down paladin." He ordered. "There, now you have nothing to fear." He opened the door and held it for her. She took a deep breath and slowly, moving along the walls, made her way towards the door. Paladin Danse did his best not to acknowledge the girl even though he wanted to squash her insubordinate head.

Tatum slipped past Danse and left the room with the Elder. He led her to the room next to Danse's. This room had a lot more stuff in it, but it didn't seem like it was bigger. Straight ahead was a table and chairs with a globe on it, cups and ashtrays. Past that, at the back of the room was a desk with a computer on it. There were also several bottles of liquor, a box of cigars, a gold lighter and a gold watch. To the right was a bed and to the left was a blue and white couch and two cabinets on either side, one was tall the other was short and long. The tall cabinet had a tool box and several tools, a baseball glove and ball, an American flag folded and encased in a wooden triangle, a chess board and a brahmin skull at the top. The short and long cabinet had several ammo boxes.

"Is this your room?" Tatum asked as Elder Maxson closed the door behind them.

"Yes." He answered as he stepped past her and opened a drawer across from the bed. He pulled out a bottle of water, purified. She watched as he poured two glasses full. He set the bottle down and handed her the glass.

"Thanks…" She hesitantly took the glass from him and put it to her lips. She didn't drink until he did. He raised his glass and took a swig then set it back down on the table. She tilted the glass and let the cool, clean liquid pour into her mouth. She meant to only drink a little but she couldn't stop. She hadn't realized how dry her throat was as she downed the entire glass in one go.

"More?" Maxson asked as he reached for the glass. She gave it to him and he filled it up. Once it was back in her hands she eagerly put it to her lips and swallowed all the water at once. Maxson pushed the bottle of water towards her, clearly the girl was thirsty. He sat at the table as she poured herself another cup. She drank another glass full before stopping. Suddenly she was feeling very conscientious about her lust for water. Politely she set the glass down without making a sound.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"Sit." Maxson gestured to the chair across from him. She obliged and sat, glad that there was a table between them. "You never told me your name."

"It's Tatum. Tatum Shaw." She told him. His eyebrows scrunched together slightly. "It is too a girls' name."

"Of course." He agreed, although he didn't. He sat up as straight as he could, all business. "Miss Shaw, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to you for the terrible loss of your family." To Tatum he sounded like he was reading the lines off of a card.

"Thanks." She said, trying to ignore the fact that he didn't sound sorry at all. In fact she was starting to think that he might not have any feelings.

"I just want you to know that I lost my family too, so I do know how you feel." He looked her straight in the eyes as he said it. Tatum was stunned.

"You did?" She inquired.

"Yes. My father was a paladin and died on the battle field. My mother sent me to be trained under Elder Lyons when I was very young. She died shortly after I left." He still spoke without emotion behind his words.

"I'm sorry." She said, and meant it. "I was too young to remember my mom, and raiders killed my dad when I was twelve. Rachelle and Derrell took me in a couple years ago. They were the ghouls." She wasn't sure why she was telling him all of this, but it seemed like he wanted to talk.

"You won't like hearing this, but you should know." Tatum braced herself, clenching her fists under the table. "People die. Every day, all the time. Sometimes those people are ones you care about and there's nothing you can do to stop it. That's life."

"Why are you saying this?" He was right, Tatum didn't like hearing it.

"Just because someone dies does not mean that you get to give up on living too."

"What?"

"I understand how it feels to lose someone you love, but you can't let it interfere with your life. In the wasteland, it could be very dangerous to lose yourself to grief."

"Is this supposed to be a pep-talk? Because it is SO not working." Tatum's hands were shaking under the table. She had the strong urge to throw something at him again.

"I am just giving you some advice."

"So you're saying that you didn't mourn when you lost your parents?"

"Of course I did. I was ten when my mother passed away. But that didn't mean that I stopped participating in my duties. I mourned on my time."

"I don't have duties. All the time is my time."

"That's where you are wrong. Everyone aboard the Prydwen has a job. That includes you. Today you have been excused from duty, but tomorrow you will report to me at 0600." Tatum's jaw hit the floor.

"I don't want to be on this damn ship!" As she spoke the volume increased. "You can't just assign me a job! I want off, now!" She stood up and stamped her foot. Elder Maxson rose from his chair as well.

"Listen," His tone made Tatum shiver but she was determined not to back down. "I am trying my damnedest to make this right and you are fighting me every step of the way." He finally started to raise his voice. "Don't you think that I have a thousand other obligations to attend to?" He slammed his fist against the table and Tatum jumped back in fear. "And here I am, wasting my time on an ungrateful brat that can't even see a good thing when it's being shoved down her throat!"

"A GOOD THING!?" She lost it. "YOU KILLED MY FUCKING FAMILY!" She took a step forward only to take several back as Elder Maxson flipped the table in front of him.

"I don't want to hear another word about your ghouls. You think they loved you? Did you know that every moment spent with them was killing you? How much radiation do you think they soaked up in their lives?" He was walking menacingly closer to her as she was backing away from him. "If they truly cared about you they would have let you go. You would have been safer without them." Tatum's back hit the cold metal wall and Maxson continued to come towards her. She looked around to see if there was anything she could use to defend herself.

"Please." Tatum begged as Elder Maxson stopped inches away from her. She held her hands in front of her, pressing against his chest.

"Please." He repeated with a scoff. "Please, what? Stop telling you the truth? Stop telling you the dangers of the world? You have no idea what is out there and what it is capable of. If raiders are the worst you've dealt with, consider yourself lucky." He didn't move, didn't touch her and didn't push her hands away. He just stared in to her eyes and watched as she squirmed in front of him.

"I'm sorry." She said, desperate to make him stop. He stared at her for a moment longer, watching a tear roll down her cheek before taking a step back and looking away. She breathed a sigh of relief as he walked back to the center of the room and picked up the overturned table.

"I apologize. I lost my temper." He said while he picked up the contents of the table that had been so rudely thrown to the floor. "I'll have someone show you to your bed." He straightened his coat, then his hair and walked to the door. Worried she'd make him mad again, Tatum quickly followed. He led her down the walkway towards the cafeteria. He received salutes as he walked.

"Squire." Maxson called to a young boy, no older than 8.

"Elder, sir!" The boy saluted with so much gusto that it almost made Tatum smile.

"Show our newest member to a spare bed. It will belong to her from now on."

"Yes sir!" Tatum followed the boy up some stairs and towards a row of beds. She didn't dare turn around to look at Elder Maxson. "This one is empty." The boy pointed at the bed.

"Thank you." She said and tried to smile.

"Uh… you're welcome." He replied, unsure of what to make of her failed smile. Luckily he didn't press the subject. He left her to her thoughts. She sat down on the bed, it was just like all the other beds on the ship. It was a single, with no blankets and no pillows. At least the higher ups are sleeping like this too. She took comfort in the fact that Elder Maxson and Paladin Danse weren't being spoiled with good beds.

She slid off her old, holey sneakers and set them on the floor at the foot of her bed. She laid down and stared up at the round metal ceiling. Is this really my life now? She looked to her right, a woman was sound asleep on the bed next to hers. There was another bed on her left, but it didn't have any occupants yet. She sighed. Oh six hundred… That's like, 6 o'clock, right? She sighed again and grabbed the yellow alarm clock on the stand next to the bed.

5:45 AM came much too quickly. She felt like she had just closed her eyes when the alarm went off. She scrambled to turn it off so that she wouldn't wake anyone around her. Bad enough she was on the leader's bad side, she didn't need anyone else to hate her. After putting her shoes back on and stretching, trying to crack every stiff bone in her body, she got to her feet and tried to find her way back to Elder Maxson's room. It's just a straight shot. She told herself.

When she went down the stairs she was surprised to see so many people in the cafeteria. She squeezed her way past the crowd trying her best not to be noticed. Once away from the crowd she let out a sigh.

"Didn't sleep well?" Elder Maxson's voice called from behind. She flinched in surprise and hoped he hadn't noticed. He gestured that she should follow him. He led her to the ship's medical clinic. "Tatum, this is Knight Captain Cade." She stared at Maxson. "Our doctor." He added. "You will need a medical examination, just like all the other new recruits."

"Hello Tatum." Cade greeted her. She returned the pleasantries. "I just have a few questions for you and then a quick physical examination." She nodded her head and glanced over her shoulder at Elder Maxson. Is he really going to just stand there? She looked back at the doctor.

"I'm ready."

"Good. The first question: were you, as a child, ever exposed to radiation for an extended period of time?" He held up a clipboard and a pen. Tatum looked back as Elder Maxson with a frown.

"Yes. I lived with two ghouls for the last two years." She told Cade. He looked horrified and wrote down several notes.

"We'll take care of that in a moment. Next question: have you ever had, or come in contact with a person confirmed to be carrying a communicable disease?"

"Um… I'm not sure. I've never really been sick but I think my mom died of illness." She peeked over her shoulder at Maxson, he was rubbing the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, his head tilted down.

"I'm sure you're fine if you didn't get sick as well. Last question." He took a deep breath. "Please, answer honestly." Tatum nodded. "Have you ever had sexual relations with any species considered non-human?"

"What!?" Tatum blushed completely red. "No! No… I—no. Uh uh. Never." She babbled on, completely caught off guard. Maxson pretended to rub his beard in order to hide the smirk on his face.

"Excellent, that's the answer I like to hear." Knight Captain Cade scribbled down a note and then set the clipboard down on his desk. "Now, if you'll just step over here." He placed a hand on her arm and directed her towards the examination table. "No need to lay down, you can sit if you like."

She hopped up on the bed and looked around the room nervously. Elder Maxson was still in the room and standing near the bed. Cade had went back to his desk and opened a locker. He seemed to be grabbing some supplies. What if he asks me to take off my clothes? There's no door! She was starting to panic. Her fear only got worse when he approached her with a giant needle. Her reflexes made her arm shoot out and grab on to Elder Maxson's wrist.

"Wh—what are you doing with that?!" She stared at the needle, not even aware that she had a hold of Maxson.

"This is to flush your system. Help get rid of the radiation. I guarantee you'll feel better afterwards."

"No, I feel fine." She looked at Elder Maxson in a desperate attempt for some sympathy. "Really, I'm OK."

"Why don't you lay down?" Maxson suggested as he lifted his arm for her to see. She quickly released his arm.

"No. I'm seriously alright." She was trembling.

"It will only sting for a moment." The doctor reassured her, but it didn't help in the slightest.

"Please. Please Elder Maxson. I don't want to." She was begging now, completely unashamed. He looked at the doctor and they shared a secret unspoken message.

"Lay down, Tatum." Maxson instructed.

"No!" She was getting close to screaming. Maxson stepped in front of her and Cade and placed both hands on her arms. He looked her in the eyes and spoke softly.

"This is necessary. Do you like your hair?" She looked at her soft brown curls and nodded. "Radiation will make your hair fall out." She already knew that, both her ghoul parents were completely hairless. "Knight Captain Cade will put down the needle." He looked over his shoulder and Cade nodded. Tatum watched as he set the syringe down on a medical tray. "There, now he'll just finish with the rest of the examination. No needles." She could tell Elder Maxson was trying to trick her somehow but she went along with it.

"Ok." She agreed and Elder Maxson gave her a nod before stepping out of the doctor's way. Cade approached her with a small flashlight and a flat wooden stick.

"Open your mouth and say "ah"." He instructed. She did as she was told. He flashed the light in to her mouth and pressed the stick on her tongue. "Have you always had bloody gums?" He asked casually.

"Thor uh cuffle nunths." She replied.

"Hmm." He nodded and pulled the tongue depressor out. "Bleeding gums is a sign of radiation sickness." He mentioned casually before lightly striking her knee with a small mallet. Her leg kicked out and he did the same thing to the other with the same results. "Good." He said as he marked a couple things down on his clipboard. While he was over at his desk Tatum turned to Elder Maxson.

"I know what you're doing." She whispered. He raised an eyebrow. "You're trying to show me how the radiation is affecting me so that I'll let him give me a shot." She pouted her lip out and folded her arms over her chest.

"Then will you let him?" He spoke in a normal tone.

"No." She replied defiantly.

"Then he'll do it without your consent."

"He can't."

"He can, and he will because I told him to." Elder Maxson pointed to the syringe and nodded at Cade. The two men approached her and she made a run for it. She didn't get far before she was scooped up, from the waist and hoisted back in to the room. Maxson lifted her on to the bed and pushed her down. He held her in place. She wanted to scream but bit her lip instead.

"This will only take a second if you don't fight it!" The doctor pleaded with her as he wiped the inside of her elbow with disinfectant. She squirmed but knew she'd get nowhere and probably only make it worse. She gave up and turned her head towards the wall, still biting her lip and stifling a sob. "Thank you." Cade breathed a breath of relief as he plunged the needle in to her arm.

She whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut tight as she reached up with her free arm and grasped Maxson forearm. A small trickle of blood was running down the side of her chin. Maxson watched as the girl shook with fear, or pain. She was a thin and delicate looking thing. He would have to change that, feed her well and get her in to an exercise program. Cade pulled the needle from her arm and wiped the bead of blood that had formed. He pressed a cottonball to her arm and wrapped two strips of bandage around it.

"All done." He said with an exasperated look on his face, but Tatum didn't see it. Her eyes were still shut tight and her hand was still holding on to Maxson. She laid there and tried to regulate her breathing. For a moment both men thought she might lose consciousness, but after a while she opened her eyes and released the elder's arm.

"Can I go now?" She asked pitifully.

"Is everything going to be an ordeal with you?" Maxson sighed. "Yes, you are dismissed. For now." He made sure she was looking at him before continuing. "Report to Senior Scribe Neriah at 1200- at noon."

"Alright."

"Alright?" Maxson repeated. "Is that how you receive an order?"

"Uh…" She remember the young scribe and how everyone else answered him on the ship. "I mean, yes sir?"

He nodded. "Dismissed."

Tatum quickly marched back to her bed keeping her head down the whole time, trying her best not to look at anyone. She didn't want to talk to anyone here, she wasn't staying. At least that's what she told herself. Once she made it back to the safety of her bed, like her own little island, she chanced a look around. People were busily walking by, some in tight suits, and others in sweaters with millions of pockets. There were also the occasional metal person. She would have to learn what they were called.

"Noon, huh?" She said to herself as she reached for her clock. A several hour nap didn't sound so bad after her traumatizing experience in the medical ward. She set the alarm for 11:30, giving her enough time to find this 'Senior Scribe Neriah'.