aaaaaaaagh_sky

The western sun's rays slanting across the Wasteland cast long shadows, reminding Ellen that as much as she wants to reach DC and find out what the situation is at the Lincoln Memorial, she's going to need to get some rest first. It's a long way from the Temple of the Union to the ruins. She's tired, Dogmeat's tired, and the temperature's dropping fast as it gets darker. Plus, her armor's starting to hum the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which Ellen figures is never what you'd call a good sign. Luckily there's a shack up ahead, one with a door she can open and close. "What do you think, Dogmeat?" she asks. "Does it smell okay to you?"

Dogmeat raises no objections, so she tries the door. It's solid enough. There's a table with a radio on it to one side; the radio's got enough juice left in its fission battery that it picks up the GNR signal when she turns it on. Unfortunately, when she moves to survey the rest of the place, her Geiger counter starts going off as she approaches the far corner of the room.

"Blast. It's not worth the Rad-X we'd both need," Ellen says to Dogmeat. "We'd better find somewhere else."

As they head out of the shack she pulls the door closed behind her, hard. It's not really built for that, so when it hits the doorframe it bounces open again. Pity she didn't turn around at the sound, because she'd've caught sight of the light of Milliways leaking through the inch or so that the door bounces open.

And anyone in Milliways who happens to be looking at the right spot at the right time will notice the door that suddenly opened an inch or so, letting in the cool evening air.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

thanksrainman

"Do we have to?"

He's making it very clear that he thinks this would be a Very Bad Idea.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"I'd rather not walk into those ruins blind," says Ellen. "Don't worry, they're usually pretty civilized. If the were the feral kind they'd've tried to eat us already."

From:

thanksrainman

"Oh, really?" Gus asks scathingly. "That's reassuring. Thanks. You got guys standing around an oil drum like that where I'm from, and it's a sure fire ticket to getting mugged."

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Gus," says Ellen, "how many toes do you have?"

From:

thanksrainman

"What?"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Toes," repeats Ellen. "How many do you have?"

From:

thanksrainman

"Ten," he says, exasperated. "How many do you fucking have?"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"I only have ten myself. Some people in Megaton have twelve, it's a radiation thing," Ellen says. "Anyway, the reason I ask is because between your ten, and my ten, and the ten fingers you've got, and the ten fingers I've got... I've killed more people than all of that put together, okay? It's not a figure that I'm proud of, but that's how it is: more people than you and I have fingers and toes. So I'm not really all that scared of people trying to rob me."

From:

thanksrainman

Gus stares at her blankly. "Well, you know, this is all new to me right now!" He hisses.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"I'm aware," says Ellen. "Look, just stay here, okay? I'll go talk to the ghouls."

From:

thanksrainman

He frowns and crosses his arms over his chest. After a few moments, he gestures toward the group of figures. "Go on, then."

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Ellen nods. "Dogmeat, stay with Gus," she says, and heads on down to the group. The ghouls turn and stare at her as she draws closer, but nobody makes a move to do much of anything. After a few moments, a quiet conversation that Gus can't overhear at this distance ensues.

Dogmeat glances up at Gus, making as if to sniff at his pockets.

From:

thanksrainman

"Get off," Gus snaps, swatting at the dog. He steps away, suddenly feeling very exposed.

"What the hell could possibly take so long?" he wonders aloud, almost tempted to walk over to join the group.

Almost, but not quite.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Dogmeat growls briefly, then lies down with his head on his paws, watching Ellen. Fine, let the human be that way.

Shortly thereafter Ellen returns. "They were headed for DC to find their way to what's supposed to be an underground city of nothing but ghouls," she reports. "Underworld, they call it. It's supposed to be a safe haven where people won't shoot at them. They couldn't get through, though. Too many mutants holed up along the Mall. They're going back towards Olney, in the north."

From:

thanksrainman

"There are cities of those things?" Gus asks, still not quite able to accept that they're still people.

"And I thought you said we were gonna get attacked by those... things, any more."

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"I don't know that cities plural is necessarily true," Ellen says. "They only mentioned the one. As far as the mutants go, I meant that the ones who attacked us weren't going to bother us any more. Besides, we're not going anywhere near the Mall- I'll take you to Megaton before taking that kind of chance. DC itself's a warzone."

She grimaces. "Unfortunately, they didn't come through Bethesda, so they couldn't really fill me in on what to expect. I gave them some of the cigarettes I found at the last place I scavenged anyway. It never hurts to leave a good impression."

From:

thanksrainman

That... sounds like a good idea right now, actually. Gus crams his hands into his pockets and eventually pulls out a crumpled paper package. Looking into the packet, he sighs and pulls out the last cigarette. He told himself that he was gonna quit after this pack, but he's seriously rethinking this decision.

"Got a light?" he asks, putting the cigarette between his lips.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Ellen rummages in her pack and comes up with a box of matches. "These should still be good. I don't think you want me using the firesteel for this."

From:

thanksrainman

Gus nods and takes the matches. The first two don't work, only frustrating Gus on top of everything else. Finally, he gets his cigarette lit and hands back the matches.

"So," he says, taking a drag. "We're going some place you never been?"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Unfortunately," Ellen says. "I met a woman who'd lived in the Bethesda ruins once, but that's as close as I get... there's an alternative, though, if you're willing to do some more walking."

From:

thanksrainman

"I just wanna go home," Gus says simply. "Can you do that?"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Okay, it's like this," Ellen says. "If we go to Bethesda, there could be just about anyone or anything holed up in the ruins. But if we do about another two hours' worth of walking we'll get to Megaton. That's where my house is. The door there's always worked for me, and you can wash up and get something hot to eat there, or something to drink up at Moriarty's Saloon. Your choice."

From:

thanksrainman

Gus sighs. "I don't wanna get back home dead," he concedes.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"All right," says Ellen. "Come on, then. This way."

She turns and starts off in a southwestern direction. Dogmeat gets to his feet, casts a suspicious look at Gus, and moves to follow.

"I'm sorry about all this, by the way. I know you didn't ask for any of it to happen."

From:

thanksrainman

"I don't even know what the fuck is going on. Only time I ever left the bar, it was because Jordan took me with her. I thought that's how it's supposed to work, isn't it?"

He inhales deeply as a thought occurs to him. "If I die, you're telling her what happened," he says suddenly.