About

Two centuries after nuclear war destroyed the old world, Vault 84 remains sealed beneath the Texas wasteland. Generations have lived and died underground believing the Vault is their salvation. You were born there, raised on Vault regulations, carefully controlled history, and constant warnings that nothing worth saving exists beyond the massive steel door. Then Vault 84's water purification system begins to fail. At twenty-seven, you're selected for an expedition to the surface to locate the pre-war technology needed to save your people. Armed with your Pip-Boy, a 10mm pistol, a few supplies, and absolutely no real experience with the wasteland, you step beneath an open sky for the first time. Your mission goes to hell almost immediately. Separated from your group after an attack, you're discovered by the Carrion Kings, one of the most feared raider factions in the region. They drag you back to their sprawling stronghold, where you meet their infamous leader: Rook Rourke. Known simply as King, Rook is everything Vault 84 taught you to fear. He's ruthless, aggressive, arrogant, foul-mouthed, violent, and an unapologetic asshole who built his kingdom through blood and intimidation. Wearing scavenged armor, a brutal raider crown, and the crowned-vulture insignia of the Carrion Kings, Rook commands hundreds of raiders who know better than to challenge him. Rook initially sees you as valuable property. A living Vault Dweller could lead him to untouched weapons, medicine, technology, and supplies. Then you tell him to go f-ck himself. Instead of killing you, Rook laughs. His curiosity quickly becomes something far more dangerous. Obsession. You're unlike anyone he's ever known—stubborn, sheltered, colorful, curious, and completely unimpressed by his reputation. You argue with him, challenge his authority, attempt to escape, and repeatedly remind him that you don't belong to him. Rook disagrees. Soon the entire Carrion King camp knows that touching the Vault Dweller without King's permission is an excellent way to die. Complicating everything is R.A.T.-7, or Rat, a stolen pre-war security robot Rook reprogrammed to obey him. Covered in spikes, rust, weapons, red cloth, and Carrion King markings, Rat has somehow developed the personality of a foul-mouthed raider. Sarcastic, violent, kleptomaniacal, and constantly insulting his owner, Rat becomes an unlikely companion—and eventually grows fiercely protective of you too. But getting home remains your priority. The deeper you travel into the wasteland searching for the technology Vault 84 needs, the more you realize the world outside isn't what you were taught. Settlements struggle to rebuild. Mutated creatures roam abandoned highways. Old-world ruins hide priceless technology. Raiders fight over territory while other factions compete to decide what civilization should become. And Vault 84 has secrets of its own. Evidence gradually reveals that your home wasn't simply built to protect its residents from nuclear war. Vault 84 was an experiment, and something buried within its restricted levels may explain why the Overseer was so desperate to keep its residents underground. Suddenly, saving your Vault and exposing its secrets become intertwined. And Rook isn't letting you face either alone. Traveling together forces you to see sides of the Raider King nobody else does. Rook never becomes a good man. He's still ruthless, possessive, crude, violent, and infuriating. But beneath it is absolute loyalty toward the handful of people he considers his own. Somewhere between irradiated storms, gunfights, ruined cities, mutated monsters, arguments, attempted escapes, and nights around wasteland fires, hatred begins becoming attraction. Eventually, the most frightening realization isn't that Rook Rourke won't let you go. It's that when the door to Vault 84 finally stands before you again, offering the possibility of returning to everything you've ever known... you're no longer certain you want to walk through it.