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

[basic_powers]

"Thanks," Tyler replies quietly, looking over his shoulder for a moment. "I'll look for metal sheets to the left then."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods. "I'll tidy up the rest, then follow you. Dogmeat, do you think you can go look after him?" she says.

The odd-eyed dog gives her a Look.

"... oh, right, dogs are supposed to get commands." With an embarrassed look, she clears her throat. "Dogmeat? Follow Tyler. Bark if there's trouble."

Hey, for all she knows, dogs understand as much English as humans do. And in this particular case, she's almost right. Dogmeat whufs once and pads along with Tyler in search of big pieces of scrap metal.

[basic_powers]

In most of the cases, big pieces of scrap metal mean 'pieces too big for Tyler to carry back on his own' so he's just taking what he can drag out. For the most part, he does so very warily and carefully before tugging a piece of metal from the piles and making a smaller pile to drag back to Ellen.

He'd strike up a conversation with Dogmeat to break the silence (having no birds around to make noise is creepy as all get out) but pleasant topics weren't really covered in his lessons about Canine.

"You think these will be enough?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I think so. They're not big people," Dogmeat answers. "I can help."

Well, if he can find a piece of metal with a spot near one of the edges that he can get in his teeth and start dragging, anyway. Dogmeat is not really familiar with the concept of Don't Bite That.

[basic_powers]

"Thanks!" With the extra help, the pile of sheet metal chunks makes it's way over to Ellen that much faster. "Doesn't that hurt your teeth, biting metal?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"A little. But it gets better," Dogmeat cheerfully answers.

Ellen, by this point, has done a fair job of making the dead people look relatively respectable. Well, as far as shaven-headed, spiked-leather-wearing Mad Max rejects and one reasonably civilized woman can look respectable as a group, anyway. Ellen's made a point of covering their faces- and throats- with whatever fabric or Brahmin skin she could cut from Dogmeat's former owner's outer layer of clothing. "Thank you," she says, looking up. "That should help..."

[basic_powers]

"There's more in a pile we made further back." Tyler offers. "Were you able to find the note?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods, and holds out a carefully-smoothed, very, very worn-down piece of paper. It reads:

Billie,

I'm sorry I stole it. You deserve to have it back. Remember the old scrapyard, north of the Bethesda ruins? Look in the burned out bus in the northwest corner. Near an old red boxcar.

Tell Loreen I still love her, and I'm sorry for everything. I hope somebody finds this before the buzzards tear it to pieces.

Your loving brother,

John

[basic_powers]

"...guess we better start looking." Tyler replies after looking at the note, and then at the sun's position in the sky for a moment. "You know where we are in the scrapyard?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Northeast, I think," Ellen says. "At least I'm pretty sure it's the northeast area. So northwest would be that way, right?"

Well, she's almost on target. And there's an old red boxcar in the direction she's pointing. It's just not the right one.

[basic_powers]

Yeh, since it doesn't look like that one has a burnt out bus next to it...

"Little bit in that direction, yeh."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I'm not very good with direction," Ellen admits as she starts settling the metal over the bodies. "At least, not on the surface. Put me underground and I can find my way almost anywhere, but without walls, I have a problem."

[basic_powers]

"Really? I've been learning how to use the sun for directions."

Unless the solar cycle of this world got screwed up when the bomb hit, the sun should still rise in the east and set in the west.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen almost says you can do that?, but manages to keep her mouth shut in time. Because, obviously, you can. "Oh," she says instead. "Well... okay. That makes sense, I guess."

[basic_powers]

"I'm still getting the hang of it though." Tyler shrugs, 9 year olds don't have that great a sense of direction either. "Haven't studied for that long."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Who teaches that kind of- okay, don't step in that." Ellen nods towards what looks like a puddle up ahead. "It's probably radioactive. Nearly all the water is, around here."

[basic_powers]

"Mr. Shephard, but he isn't in the Bar right now...and I've been learning about constellations from Uncle-" ...Right, stepping onto the metal above the puddle and using that as a bridge across. "Thanks."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You're welcome. I've got some Rad-Away if you accidentally step in anything or whatever, but it's best just to avoid the trouble in the first place." Ellen smiles ruefully. "Oh, and if someone starts shooting at us around here? Run. Don't hide behind a car. They explode if they get hit."

[basic_powers]

"I can run real good when I need to." And having something to help turn himself invisible helps too. "...why do the cars explode?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Atomic powered engines," Ellen says matter-of-factly. "Most of the batteries and engine compartments are still whole. If a bullet cracks the casing, an explosion is pretty much inevitable."

[basic_powers]

...

The people in Ellen's world are just plain crazy. There is no longer a long list of things that have been ruined by atomic war. There is now a short list of things that haven't been ruined waiting for something to be listed on it!

...And here they are in a scrapyard with dozens of wrecked ca- OKAY NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT ANYMORE KTHNX.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Fortunately, no one else is going to be shooting at anybody any time soon. This part of the scrapyard is empty of anything worth-

"Whoop. I think I hear giant ants."

[basic_powers]

...Hey, look at that, Tyler's just stopped moving and started strapping on his wrist-mounted thing, like the one he gave Ellen.

Soon as it's strapped on, he's got that souped-up flashlight in one hand as well.

"Dogmeat...what do giant ants smell like?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Like the things coming from the other side of that big box over there," Dogmeat answers, and starts growling.

[basic_powers]

"...I was afraid of that."

Tyler's starting to hear them as well and takes his first kata stance with the binford flashlight.

Giant ants. Some reason he's not really surprised.

snap-hisssssss