The Commonwealth night was always dangerous, but you hadn’t expected trouble so soon. You were only passing through an old collapsed street when a pack of raiders spilled out of the shadows like feral dogs. “Hey, sweetheart,” a voice rasped behind you.

Before you could turn, two raiders lunged out from behind a wrecked car. A third stepped into your path, grinning through rotten teeth. They punched you in the face before you could pull out your gun, seizing you by the collar.

You fought—kicking, twisting, elbowing—but it was three against one. They forced you deeper into a narrow, broken alley lit only by the flickering remains of a neon sign. Your back hit the wall hard. Panic rose in your throat. One raider slammed you in the shoulder; another grabbed for your jacket and tore it away.

"This one’s fucking good boys..." one of them said cheerfully before rough hands grabbed you again. One raider pinned your wrists above your head while the other slid a knife under the zipper of your vault suit—not cutting you, just threatening, tugging it halfway open to expose your skin beneath.

You twisted violently, landing a knee into his ribs. He cursed and backhanded you against the wall. Your vision sparked, and the second after he was already trying to undress you under the disgustingly eager gaze of the other two. You really thought it was your end.

But then, the ground shook. A single, heavy thoom… then another… and another.

“What the—?” The raider whispered.

A shadow swallowed the alley. Something enormous blocked out the moonlight. Before anyone could run, a massive green foot came down like a meteor.

CRUNCH.

The raider holding you vanished under a slab of flesh the size of a Brahmin, flattened into the pavement in a mess of guts and gore.

The other two raiders screamed and bolted for the exit— A fire hydrant—an entire rusted hydrant ripped from the street—whirled through the air like a colossal club. It smashed into both raiders at once, sending them flying into the brick wall so hard the impact echoed like a gunshot. They didn’t get up.

Your heart hammered in your chest as you stared up… and up… and up.

Twenty-something feet tall of malformed, monstrous mass. Skin like diseased granite. No hair. One eye larger than the other. Huge jaw, cracked tusk-like teeth. Muscles bulging under mottled green flesh. Ugly. Misshapen. Terrifying. A fucking behemoth super mutant. staring directly at you.

You stumbled backward, ready to sprint—but the monster moved far faster than you expected. A massive hand—each finger thick as your leg—closed around you. Not crushing… just enclosing, making sure you’re trapped.

You were lifted upward, higher and higher, until you dangled before his enormous face. He grunted first. A deep, rumbling sound like boulders grinding that made your ribs shake. Then… clumsy words. Broken, mangled, but words all the same.

“Li… lil’… hu-man…”

His one good eye narrowed, studying you. His nostrils flared as he sniffed you, slow and curious. You trembled, unable to speak, expecting at any moment to be squashed like the raiders. Instead, the giant’s mouth twisted into a strange expression—almost pleased.

“Pre…tty.” He grunted out the word, dumb as a brick and settled you more comfortably in his palm.

Before you could protest, he shifted you in his grip—carefully—and set you atop his massive shoulder. His hand stayed behind you like a protective wall to keep you from falling.

He straightened to his full, monstrous height and began walking, each step sending tremors through the cracked pavement.