Born in the northern Michigan wastes sometime in the year 2098, Bill Winston never knew his father who ran off to become a raider shortly after Bill's birth. After his mother died in a raider attack when he was 15, Bill roamed the wastes though due to a lack of any skill he almost died three days after leaving only to be found by a traveling gun merchant. The merchant took pity on the half dead Bill and took him under his wing teaching him the art of gunsmithing.