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]

"I can," Annabelle replies with a small smile.

Humans aren't likely to survive having anything dropped on them from this height, but Annabelle doesn't plan on mentioning that.

Annabelle will keep one eye on Ellen and the other eye on anything that looks like potential trouble.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

There is, thankfully, no real particular trouble at the moment. Enough of the mutants below are dead that none of the remainder are anywhere close enough to look up and shoot, and for all that this is a world filled with horrors and twisted nature, there are no gigantic birds or bats anywhere to be seen. So most of what Ellen's got to deal with right now involves undoing the nuts and bolts holding the shattered remains of the old radio dish on...

and ignoring the view.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle is relieved that there's no trouble for the moment. There's still a residual ache in her healing ribs that would be aggravated by further combat on her part.

When Ellen's got the remains of the old dish off, Annabelle will help her stow them somewhere up here.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

What's left of the old dish looks like it's been dragged behind a truck somewhere. Three Dog described it as Swiss Cheese; that would be charitable at best. There's more hole than dish left at this point.

"Now comes the big part," Ellen says. "Getting the new one on without dropping it."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I can help you hold it in position," Annabelle replies. "It might be an easier job if you had another set of hands holding the dish steady while you work."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"If you wouldn't mind?" says Ellen. "It would be a big help..."

It's going to be a complicated affair, given the size of the dish and the various forms of leaning out the window involved, but it'll get done without anyone getting hurt.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle has to hook a leg around a convenient piece of architecture at one point, and she occasionally curses when the dish attempts to slip out of position, but the job gets done.

"I think that's it. Is there anything else we need to do to make sure it's working?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"The cables," says Ellen. "We had them hooked up to start with. Make sure they're hooked up to the equipment at the other end. And turn on anything that looks like a radio..."

(There's an ordinary radio off to one side. The brand name is Radiation King.)

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle nods and moves to check the cables and turn on the radio. She shakes her head a bit when she catches sight of the brand name as she turns the dial...

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The last few notes of a Billie Holliday song fade away. The sound that follows should be a familiar voice by now.

"People of the Capital Wasteland, you can HEAR MEEEE!!!! Yeeeaa haaaa!!! You can't stop the signal, baby!"

Ellen grins weakly and leans against the nearest available wall. "Sounds like it worked," she murmurs, as Three Dog continues his gleeful announcements.

[aeons_crackshot]

"I wonder how he knew we'd fixed it?" Annabelle asks, shaking her head at Three Dog's exuberance.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"He has all kinds of monitoring equipment in his studio," Ellen says. "I've been there. He must've seen the signal strength go up...." She exhales. "I've had about enough today. We should get out of here and go back to Milliways. I need to sit on the ground for a good long time."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I've about had it myself," Annabelle admits. "Now that the adrenaline's wearing off, my ribs are aching a bit along with the itching."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I have some Med-X if you want it," Ellen says. "Opiate painkiller. Enough to get you down the elevator and out the door. We can use the tunnel entrance to get back to the Bar without the Brotherhood people wondering where you've gone."

[aeons_crackshot]

"That might be a good idea," Annabelle reluctantly admits. "I was going to use some of what Alyx calls 'bug juice' on it when I got back to the Bar, but since I have no idea how it might react with whatever is already in my system..."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen fishes the syringe out of her belt pouch, but then realizes just how badly her hands are shaking. "Um," she says. "How about we get back to the Bar first. I'll hold you up if you need it, but I don't think I should be using needles right now."

[aeons_crackshot]

"I don't think you'll need to hold me up, I'm not that bad off," she says with a small smile. "The sooner we get going the better, especially if your hands are shaking like that."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "Let's get moving, then," she says. "The sooner we're in the Bar, the happier I'll be."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle nods and moves toward the elevator. Thankfully, she won't be afflicted with an earworm during the trip down.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

[OOC: I posted here.