In 2077, former actor Cooper Howard is reduced to performing at birthdays, with his daughter Janey, to make ends meet. A nuclear explosion shatters the party, prompting a desperate escape. Centuries later, in Vault 33, Lucy prepares for a strategic marriage as her community faces crop failure. Meanwhile, Maximus survives a nuclear attack in Shady Sands, joining the Brotherhood of Steel but facing internal strife. The Ghoul’s narrative reveals his brutal survivalist journey, underscored by violence and betrayal. References to the broader Fallout universe enrich the narrative with cultural and game-related elements.

Before the Great War, actor Cooper Howard films a Western but protests the script’s ending, where his character kills the villain. In the post-apocalyptic present, a mutated Ghoul discovers Wilzig’s headless corpse and tracks Lucy to the underwater ruins of Hollywood Boulevard. There, a mutated gulper swallows Wilzig’s head, and Lucy, while escaping, is captured by the Ghoul. Meanwhile, Maximus fends off scavengers trying to steal his Power Armor and pretends to be Titus to deceive the Brotherhood of Steel. In the past, Cooper becomes Vault-Tec’s ambassador, his likeness later inspiring the Vault Boy mascot.