EXT. WASTELAND RUINS – EARLY EVENING
A cracked road winds through the skeletal remains of a once-thriving outpost. Signs of fire, gunfire, and decay are everywhere.
MAXIMUS walks with difficulty, LUCY helping him carefully. JUNO trails behind, scanning the ruins with cautious curiosity. His Pip-Boy softly pings.
PIP-BOY HUD: SHADY SANDS — NEW LOCATION DISCOVERED +50XP
MAXIMUS
What?
LUCY
This isn't… real, right?
MAXIMUS
You never heard of the New California Republic?
LUCY
Thirty-four thousand people lived here after the war?
MAXIMUS
Yeah.
LUCY
What about Reclamation Day?
Th-The entire purpose of my vault was… to come up to the surface one day and…
(She breathes shakily.)
… and restart civilization. It's—it's Reclamation Day, it's what keeps us all going and…
It… it already h-happened without us.
(They pause in the crater at the center of town. JUNO kneels beside an old, rusted sign: "NCR OUTPOST 12" — he brushes dust off a bullet-scarred emblem.)
JUNO (quietly, to himself)
What happened…
MAXIMUS
Well, if it makes you feel any better… it didn't work out.
LUCY
What happened?
MAXIMUS
Same thing that always happens.
Everyone wants to save the world, they just…
(He stands slowly, eyes scanning the wreckage.)
…they disagree on how.
LUCY
I wonder if anyone survived.
MAXIMUS
I did.
(A brief silence. Then—)
MAXIMUS
We should keep moving.
LUCY
Hey…
(She steadies him.)
Titus, this is more than just a graze. We have to get you something… from somewhere.
MAXIMUS (groans)
We need to get the head.
LUCY (exhales)
The head can wait.
Come on.
(They spot a mostly intact building ahead.)
JUNO (indicating with his Pip-Boy)
It's an R&D building. We might find things inside.
MAXIMUS
Wait. There could be anything in there.
LUCY
Yeah. Like a first aid kit.
(JUNO and LUCY don't wait for approval. They move.)
INT. HAWTHORNE MEDICAL – LOBBY – MOMENTS LATER
The R&D building groans under its own weight. Dust hangs like mist. The setting sun bleeds through cracks in the walls. MAXIMUS waits outside.
JUNO and LUCY move cautiously past a front desk, weapons drawn. LUCY checks corners.
PIP-BOY HUD: MAP UPDATED: HAWTHORNE MEDICAL +25XP
JUNO
I really doubt there's much here.
LUCY
We can hope.
(They split slightly — LUCY moves toward a half-open side door labeled: EXAMINATION – A. JUNO's Pip-Boy pings faintly.)
LUCY (calling softly)
I'll check this room.
JUNO
Stay close.
CRACK—
A heavy mechanical clunk sounds.
JUNO whips his head around.
LUCY (O.S.)
Wait—Juno—!
Then:
A sharp scream. CUT OFF.
JUNO
Lucy?!
(He rushes toward the room — but the light inside is dim, flickering. The door swings slowly inward. Empty.)
JUNO (CONT'D)
Lucy? Where the hell—
(He takes another cautious step in.)
KA-CHUNK.
The floor drops out beneath him.
His body vanishes in a blur of motion—
SLAMMING INTO DARKNESS.