EXT. WRECKED OVERPASS – DAY
Sunlight cuts through haze, casting long shadows across rusted railings and shattered glass. A faint BEEP-BEEP echoes from JUNO's Pip-Boy — a directional ping, triangulating a short-range signal. Vault-Tec tech. Close.
EXT. ABANDONED STREETS – CONTINUOUS
JUNO walks alone, trench coat flaring with each step. Dust swirls behind his boots. His eyes scan the ruin — every shattered window, every alley — reading it all like a systems diagram.
Every shadow a variable. Every footprint a lead.
He crouches beside a crushed soda can and a pair of fresh prints. One heavy. Broad. The other, lighter. Heading east.
JUNO
(quietly to himself)
Getting closer… she hasn't moved in a while.
He stands. Wind shifts. Faint voices carry from somewhere ahead — too distant to parse, but real.
EXT. SUBWAY STATION – RIDGE ABOVE – MOMENTS LATER
JUNO crouches at the ridge, peering down at a crumbling station entrance. Two figures below:
LUCY, in a dirty Vault 33 jumpsuit
MAXIMUS, military posture, clad in a dark red jumpsuit — moving what looks like a MK1 Iron Man suit
Juno's hand hovers near his sidearm.
A beat.
He studies Lucy. Recognition flickers. She's the one Ma June talked about. The one looking for her father.
JUNO (V.O.)
Well... this is it. Quest complete.
Huh. Wonder what happens after this.
He exhales once. Calm. Focused.
JUNO (V.O.) (CONT'D)
Let's see how it goes.
He descends the cracked stairs.
EXT. SUBWAY STATION ENTRANCE – MOMENTS LATER
As LUCY and MAXIMUS finish their uneasy agreement, FOOTSTEPS crunch faintly down the cracked stairs.
A flicker of movement in the shadows.
JUNO ARENDAL steps into view — hesitant, but armed. Drawn by the voices.
He sees them: two strangers mid-conversation — the vault girl he's been tracking, and some grim-looking man in a red jumpsuit, military posture. Armorless but not unarmed in spirit.
[OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: FIND THE VAULT GIRL +100XP]
Juno's hand twitches near his sidearm. He hesitates.
LUCY and MAXIMUS turn, noticing him.
Juno steps fully into the open. Dusty. Tired. His Vault 14 suit visible beneath Ma June's trench coat. His hand still near his weapon.
LUCY, pale but alert, clocks the Vault suit — and doesn't raise her weapon, but doesn't lower her guard either.
MAXIMUS, unarmored but tense, eyes sharp.
MAXIMUS
Another one? Is he with you, Lucy?
LUCY
No.
Juno raises his hands slightly — calm, not threatening.
JUNO
Look — you don't know me. I'm from Vault 14. I'm not here to fight.
However, I've been tracking you.
Well… not you specifically — her. The girl in the Vault suit.
LUCY
You've been following me?
(beat)
Wait. Is that… a real Vault suit?
[SPEECH CHECK]
JUNO
(to himself, muttering)
What do I say? "I'm on a mission"?
This isn't a video game to them.
Right — let's make something up and bullshit it.
JUNO
Yeah. It's real.
I woke up a few days ago. Cryogenically frozen. Vault 14.
Everyone else… didn't make it. (well this is true)
LUCY
Pre-war? You're from before the bombs?
JUNO
Yeah, something like that… Look, I honestly don't remember how I got there.
Just remember waking up.
He eases his hand off the weapon. Breath steady. A flicker of darkness in his gaze.
JUNO
I've had to shoot my way through more than I ever thought I would.
That's not why I woke up.
But it's why I'm still here.
(beat)
I've been tracking you for a few days now — seemingly always a day behind.
Rumors and leads. Eventually I figured a fellow Vault dweller would have a Pip-Boy.
So I altered mine to find the nearest active Pip-Boy signal.
(beat)
Look — I know about the head. I've figured all this out already.
I have no interest in it.
I just wanted to find answers about the Vault.
About what Vault-Tec was doing — and what they might still be doing.
And you're the only lead I've found.
MAXIMUS
(guarded)
You just happened to follow a trail of corpses to the same objective?
Sounds convenient.
JUNO
Don't flatter yourself.
(looks at Lucy)
(beat)
I'm looking for answers.
You're the closest thing I've got.
LUCY
(reading him)
I'd like to help you.
We're after a squire — he stole the head. Left Titus here to die.
If you're looking for Vault-Tec answers… my father might have some.
We help each other, maybe we all get what we're after.
MAXIMUS doesn't relax, but he backs off a half-step. Still tense.
MAXIMUS
Try anything, and—
JUNO
Chill. If I wanted to take you both out, you'd already be dead.
(beat)
So how about you ease up, soldier boy?
MAXIMUS
(gritting teeth)
…
LUCY
(stepping between them — calm, firm)
Hey. Knock it off. Both of you.
We're all out here for a reason.
We don't have the time — or luxury — to fight each other.
(beat)
Maximus, you're right to be cautious.
Juno… try a little patience. We're not enemies now.
MAXIMUS
(sighs)
Fine. But I'm watching.
JUNO
(nods)
Very well. Thanks for being trusting.
LUCY looks between them, then gestures down the cracked railroad path.
LUCY
Let's move. Before this place gets any more crowded.
The trio starts forward — a fragile alliance forming beneath the wreckage, drawn together by ruin, coincidence, and something dangerously close to hope.