The Mall

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The door opens onto a hot day in early September, and stairs sticky with blood half-covered in shadows. They've just emerged from a rattletrap gate that once kept people out of the Museum Station metro stop- "It was the only door I could reach safely," Ellen explains. "Once we get to the top of the stairs, we're visible from the Mall- it's maybe ten yards away, tops. The mutant've got miniguns, I know that much for sure."

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle may be cackling a bit with glee at the explosion. "I think that's done it! Do you see any others?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"One more on the far side," Ellen reports. "No, two. I'll take the one on the left."

BANG.

"Crumbs, I think he saw that coming... come on come on come on..." BANG. "Okay. Better."

[aeons_crackshot]

"We'll have to work on predicting how your enemy is going to move," Annabelle remarks as she takes aim and fires on the other mutant. *BANG* The mutant shrieks in pain and attempts to dodge. Unfortunately, Super-mutants aren't very good at dodging. *BANG* The mutant collapses backwards, its corpse crushing something made of rusted metal on the way down.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm usually better than that," Ellen says. "The ones in the Museum- never mind." The blur shakes its head. "I think that's it for this part of the Mall... if we're very lucky, there'll only be a few more of them on the other side of that rubble, and then we'll get a clear run at the Monument."

[aeons_crackshot]

"Weren't as lucky as that one?" Annabelle fills in. She's relieved that they might soon have a clear shot at the monument. Just because she can fight while in pain doesn't mean she wants to.

"A clear run would be nice," Annabelle remarks. "Do you want to scout around the pile of rubble before we head that way?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"That would be best. I'll be right back."

The blur creeps away, leaving a silence marked only by the occasional bug noise or sound of concrete and rubble settling. If there are birds, they're anywhere but here.

Eventually, though, the blur creeps back. "We're in luck," Ellen murmurs. "There's still plenty of trench on the other side, but everything in it is dead. It's five hundred feet from there to the Brotherhood of Steel guard post outside the Monument."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle grins at Ellen's report. "That's good news! There's an outpost at the monument? That might mean it's relatively safe..."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"We can hope," Ellen says soberly. "There were Brotherhood Knights stationed outside Galaxy News Radio, and the mutants nearly overran the place anyway. We'd better be careful, especially since this-"

She ducks down into the tunnel gate area and emerges with a big metallic dish antenna in her arms.

"This is why we're here, and there's only one of it left in the world so far as anyone can tell. The mutants shot the last one off the Monument and nearly killed Galaxy News Radio's signal. If we can get it working again, Three Dog will tell me where Dad went."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle nods, her expression more serious. "I'd thought that the bodies behind the rubble pile might be their work, but that doesn't mean they're still alive."

Annabelle looks at the dish antenna, "One thing in this whole mess that we can fix...." she says with a smile.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "I sure hope so," she says. "Here goes nothing..."

She'll leave her stealth field off as they approach. At this point, if there are any mutants close enough to cause trouble, she wants to make sure that any Brotherhood survivors don't inadvertently put a couple dozen bullets through her instead. Besides, it's not much good if she's moving faster than a creep- and the thought of five hundred feet at that snail's pace makes her want to scream.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle follows, gun at the ready. She's keeping an eye out for trouble, whether it's human or mutant in nature.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

When you're used to spontaneous eruptions of gunfire or the sudden arrival of mutant creatures from over the horizon, five hundred feet of quiet, open urban wasteland can feel like miles. The shattered remains of concrete walls and asphalt paving give back every footstep, every motion, and make every shadow seem like something making ready to leap.

But nothing comes; and as the two draw nearer to the Washington Monument, a line of what had appeared to be nothing but rubble turns out to be an organized, fortified wall painted with the sword-and-gears symbol of the Brotherhood of Steel. A little ways along the wall gives way to a metal gate- and to rows of sandbags, curving out from the gate and providing cover for a pair of heavily armed figures in power armor.

"Hold it right there," says the one on the left, a woman with some sort of energy rifle in her hand. "Who are you two, and what's your business here?"

[aeons_crackshot]

The sight of the damaged monument is unnerving, but Annabelle can't afford to give it too much attention. By the time the woman hails them, Annabelle is already studying the strange armor for weak points. She's not counting on the Brotherhood being friendly.

She stops and replies, "Annabelle Newfield and Ellen Park. We're here to do a little repair work for a fellow by the name of Three Dog."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen wordlessly holds up the dish as Annabelle speaks; the armored woman eyes it for a moment, then nods. "All right," she says. "Go on up- and good luck."

The armored woman leans over to tap a code into the keyboard of a terminal set into the gatepost, and the gate slides open. The courtyard beyond is largely empty, save for a few chairs and a radio playing a cheerful tune about somebody called Butcher Pete. "Question," Ellen says, eyeing the Monument. "How far up do we go?"

"All the way to the top," says the armored woman, sounding amused. "It's the only place the elevator goes, anyway."

Ellen blanches.

[aeons_crackshot]

"I wouldn't have thought the elevator would still work after all this time," Annabelle says to the woman. She notices Ellen's blanch and is trying not to think about death by architecture herself.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"It took the Scribes several years to get it functional again when Elder Lyons okayed the project," the woman says. "If it weren't for Three Dog, he wouldn't have bothered. The effort wouldn't be worth it without a voice like Galaxy News Radio broadcasting in the Wastes."

"You could always take the stairs, if you'd rather. All eight hundred ninety seven of them."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle turns to Ellen, "I'm up for either the stairs or the elevator."
She turns back to the woman, "Are we likely to run into anything up there?" If there are freaky mutant bats, rats or other nasties in the monument Annabelle wants to know about them ahead of time.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"There might be some radroaches in the stairwell," says the woman after a few moments' thought. "And I can't vouch for how many of the stairs are still in place as opposed to the ones that might've come apart, either. That's the only danger I can think of, though."

[aeons_crackshot]

"Thank you," Annabelle says with a nod. "We may need to risk the elevator if the stairs are in such bad shape. What do you think, Ellen?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Elevator," says Ellen in a slightly strangled tone. "The Brotherhood takes care of their equipment. I trust it."

"Glad to see someone recognizes that," the armored woman murmurs.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle nods in agreement. "Thank you for the information," she says to the woman. "I hadn't heard of your Brotherhood before Ellen mentioned you to me, but I trust her word that you know what you're doing."

"Do you want to go in the elevator first, or shall I?" she asks Ellen.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Seriously?" says the woman. "What, did you just crawl out of a hole in the ground or something?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," says Ellen. "We're from Vault 101."

"Ah," says the woman. "That explains a few things. All right, carry on."

Ellen glances to Annabelle as they pass the guardpost. "Okay," she says, "I... well, I'll go in first. I've been on one elevator before, so it can't be that different, right?"

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle is thankful that Ellen came up with a cover story. 'I'm a dead woman from another universe' doesn't sound very rational even if it is the truth.

"I shouldn't think it would be too different," Annabelle reassures Ellen.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right, I-"

She pauses, turning to stare at the radio. The Butcher Pete song gave way to the voice of Three Dog at some point during their discussion with the Brotherhood woman; hearing the words "James, that guy from the Vault" is definitely enough to catch her attention. Silently, she holds up one hand in a request to wait.

"And then I told you somebody else crawled out of there, too, right? Well, guess who came to visit ol' Three Dog at his luxurious studio in beautiful downtown DC? That's right! The other Vault dweller!"

Judging by the look on Ellen's face, she wasn't expecting that.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle pauses at Ellen's gesture to wait and frowns when she hears what he's saying. "Well, that could complicate matters. Fame can bring you more trouble than it's worth..."