Scrapyard Revisited

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The cool indoor air of Milliways abruptly gives way to the blazing dry heat of an August afternoon. The only thing between the sun and the ground here is a couple of circling scavenger birds; it's been a long while since rain fell on the scrapyard that sprawls in all directions. Mostly the sun beats down on the gutted, rusted wrecks of what used to be cars, but there are former cargo trailers and the remains of trains and trucks scattered about the place as well.

"The people we're going to cover up are off to the right," Ellen warns quietly. "Just so you know."

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"What's lard?" says Ellen. And: "Does that look like a burned-out bus to you over there?"

[basic_powers]

"I think it's animal fat." Pause, with a slight head tilt, looking where Ellen's pointing. "Yeh it does, and it has a red boxcar right next to it."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Huh. Well, ants don't have much fat, not compared to yao guai or mirelurks, so I think we're all right," Ellen says. Then she smiles. "Terrific! Let's to find whatever it is Billie was searching for."

[basic_powers]

"What's a yao guai?" Mirelurk, well, the name has the impression of something he doesn't want to run into in the swamps. He's running right up behind Ellen to start searching over the bus.

"...if I was hiding something in a bus...."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Mutant bear," Ellen says. "Bigger than me. One of them managed to claw through my armor once. The meat's pretty good, though. The people in Big Town liked it."

She frowns a little, thinking, and pokes her head into the bus interior.

"Would you hide something under the seats, maybe?"

[basic_powers]

"...depending on how big it was, I'd've hidden it in or under the seats..or the underside of the bus..." Tyler ducks down, checking for puddles under the bus, just in case.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

No puddles, thankfully. And, alas, nothing else of note save for some metal good for nothing but scrap. In fact, a thorough search of the bus almost doesn't find it- the box turns out to have been hidden in the stairwell, next to the rusted-shut door.

"Huh," says Ellen, hefting the box. "Doesn't feel like it's full of caps, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's not treasure..."

[basic_powers]

"What else could be that weight and be worth a lot?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Medicine's not that heavy," Ellen says, shaking the box a little. "And it's not making liquid noises, either. Or glass ones, for that matter. Ammunition, maybe, if he packed it very carefully, or a pre-war gun in good repair- it's too small to be armor..."

She sets the box down and eyes it.

"Can you pick locks, or should I try first?"

[basic_powers]

"I don't know how to pick locks, so you might wanna try that."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods and fishes through the pouches on her belt. Eventually she comes up with a handful of old bobby pins and a small screwdriver. She slides one end of one of the pins into the lock and starts wriggling it around; after a bit, she turns the pin to one side very, very slowly. Then to the other, a little more quickly- "Ah, here we go," she says, and uses the screwdriver to coax the lock around and open as if it were a key.

And she whistles as the box comes open, because inside are several virtually pristine pre-War books- one a massive guide to firearm care and maintenance, another (30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes: A U. S. Army Guide To Heavy Weapons) for the larger sort of gun, and a copy of the Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 42nd Edition.

Oh, and three consecutive issues of The Adventures of Captain Cosmos, with most of the pages intact and the covers on, too.

[basic_powers]

...Tyler's looking at the items in awe, and possibly tenatively adding comic books to the 'not ruined' list.

"I've got some spare plastic baggies if you wanna put the comics into em to keep em safe and dry."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"That would be good," Ellen agrees, fingering the edge of the Cecil Textbook. "We had a hard time keeping them this nice in the Vault, and that was a sealed environment. Wow."

[basic_powers]

There's a little rummaging in the backpack. Ellen might not be surprised at how full of gear it is. There's a flashlight, matches, plastic baggies, bottled water, high-protein energy bars, more of those eggs, the controller for them, radio headset, notebook, spare clothes and a second attachment for the gauntlet.

"Here we go."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods and does her best to wipe her armor's gloves clean before she picks the comics up with the greatest of care. "The Brotherhood of Steel would probably pay through the nose for these," she notes. "Any of them. I wonder if Scribe Yearling's still at the Arlington library..."

[basic_powers]

Tyler just nods and after mimicing Ellen by wiping off his hands on his clothes before opening up the bags for the comic books. "I shoulda brought some rubber gloves or something..."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"The next time I see a first aid kit I'll check and see if there are any inside worth using," Ellen says, and carefully eases the first of the comics into the bag. "Or I'll ask Doc Hoff, the next time his caravan's in Megaton. He and Crazy Wolfgang are the merchants most likely to have them."

[basic_powers]

"Alright...." Comic books bagged into seperate bags. "Is the library a long way off from here?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Several hours' walk south," Ellen says. "And from here we'd have to go through the DC ruins to reach it. I'll take them after I get back to Megaton, I think. I don't want to put you in danger."

[basic_powers]

Tyler's good with that plan, it's a plan that involves a very low chance of being shot at. So the boy nods and after the last book is baggied, hands them over to Ellen.

"You wanna carry em?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You can if you want," Ellen says. "Or not. I'll be carrying the other books, either way-"

She stops as she realizes what she's just said.

"Um. Did you want to come all the way back to Megaton with me, or should I just take you back to Milliways? It's not that bad on the way back to Megaton as long as we avoid the river."

[basic_powers]

"...Could try the door you used here first, see if it goes to Milliways." Glance around. Not too sure on the dangers between here and Megaton, but if there isn't a door here... "Your most stable door is in Megaton anyways, if this door doesn't work, right?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "Usually I'm pretty good at getting there from just about any door," she says. "I was hoping I'd find a Vault under those big bunker things-" She indicates the two massive structures at the northern end of the scrapyard. "Haven't checked the eastern one yet, but there's nothing under the western one. If there's no Vault hidden under the eastern one, we'll try and get to the Bar there."

[basic_powers]

"Okay, that sounds like a plan."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"All right."

There are, thankfully, neither raiders nor giant ants waiting for them as they pick their way through the scrapyard towards the concrete bunker to the east. Dogmeat seems quite happy to trot obediently along behind them, tail waving; he's the only living creature besides the humans and the scavenger birds to be seen anywhere.

At least, until Ellen pries open the bunker door, and the pink thing almost as big as Dogmeat darts out at a run...

"Dogmeat! No!" Ellen cries as the dog suddenly wheels to give chase. "Get back here!"