Lincoln Memorial
Jan. 1st, 2010 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_skyIf the Brotherhood guards thought anything of the carnage that Ellen and Alyx had wrought at the Lincoln Memorial, or even knew of it at all, there was no sign of it. Ellen had used the last few shots from the odd alien pistol to burn the slaver and mutant bodies together- Hannibal's people didn't need rotting corpses to greet them- but the blood splattered over stone and dirt alike remained. No one had entered the storerooms below the Memorial either, from what Ellen could tell. Well, thank goodness for small favors; Hannibal's people were going to need all the cleansers they could get if this place was ever going to be fit to live in. The only sign that anything at all had entered the Memorial in her absence was a nasty infestation of radroaches, but they were easy enough to put down. Ellen did her best to get the corpses out of the building and the guts off the floor before heading back down to the Metro entrance where the former slaves were waiting.
"Is it safe?" Hannibal asked. "Has anyone taken the place since-"
"No." Ellen shook her head. "Not that I can see." She paused. "It's still a bloody mess, though. If you don't mind, I'd like to help you and your people clean it up."
"Let us have a look at it first," said Hannibal. "There... may be some reminders we'll want to keep. To ensure neither we, nor anyone else, forgets what kind of price freedom has."
Ellen nodded. "This way, then," she said. As the caravan- Hannibal and Caleb in the lead, Enrique and Perlie and Somersett in the middle, Bill and Alejandra and Simone bringing up the rear- started moving forward she added, "I got rid of all the mines I could, but there may still be a few here and there. Do any of your people know how to disarm proximity mines?"
"I do," Simone volunteered. "I worked as a merc before those slaver bastards got me."
"Good," said Ellen. "In that case you should know that I kept the mines I removed. They're in a storeroom downstairs, along with a bunch of ammunition and some grenades and things. If you can make use of them you might want to look into it. The mutants are really bad around here and you never know when one'll get past the Brotherhood guys."
Simone nodded, flashing a brief but quite real grin. "I think that'll do nicely," she said. "Thanks."
Then they were at the Memorial steps, and there was no more talking. Ellen cringed a little at the pockmarks left by bullets old and new, and the gouges from this or that explosive. Hannibal didn't seem to mind, though. He didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on what lay beyond, in the shadows of the building itself. A more poetic universe would have bestowed a single slanting ray of sunlight on the headless statue of Lincoln as Hannibal crossed the threshold; this one only coughed up a distant sound of gunfire that faded away to silence. Even the pack Brahmin's two heads fell quiet. There was only the patter of Hannibal's feet against the marble as he moved forward to look up at the statue, and the carven words on the wall beyond.
"'In giving freedom to the slave,'" Hannibal finally said, more to the statue than to any of the people who had come with him, "'we assure freedom to the free— honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of Earth.'"
There was nothing at all Ellen could say to that.
Hannibal turned around, and he smiled. "Welcome, my friends," he said then. "Welcome to your new homes. Sister, we have very little we can give you in return for all you and your companions have done for us-"
Ellen started to shake her head, started to say they didn't have to offer anything, but Hannibal was still speaking. "-but know that you are always welcome here among us should your travels ever bring you this way again. The free people of this Wasteland will never forget you."
"Sir, I..." She spread her hands helplessly. "I don't know what to say."
"Well, we can't all be as eloquent as Lincoln," said Hannibal with a smile. "But I understand. Now, if you don't mind, I think Caleb wants to get to work..."
"Is it safe?" Hannibal asked. "Has anyone taken the place since-"
"No." Ellen shook her head. "Not that I can see." She paused. "It's still a bloody mess, though. If you don't mind, I'd like to help you and your people clean it up."
"Let us have a look at it first," said Hannibal. "There... may be some reminders we'll want to keep. To ensure neither we, nor anyone else, forgets what kind of price freedom has."
Ellen nodded. "This way, then," she said. As the caravan- Hannibal and Caleb in the lead, Enrique and Perlie and Somersett in the middle, Bill and Alejandra and Simone bringing up the rear- started moving forward she added, "I got rid of all the mines I could, but there may still be a few here and there. Do any of your people know how to disarm proximity mines?"
"I do," Simone volunteered. "I worked as a merc before those slaver bastards got me."
"Good," said Ellen. "In that case you should know that I kept the mines I removed. They're in a storeroom downstairs, along with a bunch of ammunition and some grenades and things. If you can make use of them you might want to look into it. The mutants are really bad around here and you never know when one'll get past the Brotherhood guys."
Simone nodded, flashing a brief but quite real grin. "I think that'll do nicely," she said. "Thanks."
Then they were at the Memorial steps, and there was no more talking. Ellen cringed a little at the pockmarks left by bullets old and new, and the gouges from this or that explosive. Hannibal didn't seem to mind, though. He didn't even seem to notice. His eyes were fixed on what lay beyond, in the shadows of the building itself. A more poetic universe would have bestowed a single slanting ray of sunlight on the headless statue of Lincoln as Hannibal crossed the threshold; this one only coughed up a distant sound of gunfire that faded away to silence. Even the pack Brahmin's two heads fell quiet. There was only the patter of Hannibal's feet against the marble as he moved forward to look up at the statue, and the carven words on the wall beyond.
"'In giving freedom to the slave,'" Hannibal finally said, more to the statue than to any of the people who had come with him, "'we assure freedom to the free— honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of Earth.'"
There was nothing at all Ellen could say to that.
Hannibal turned around, and he smiled. "Welcome, my friends," he said then. "Welcome to your new homes. Sister, we have very little we can give you in return for all you and your companions have done for us-"
Ellen started to shake her head, started to say they didn't have to offer anything, but Hannibal was still speaking. "-but know that you are always welcome here among us should your travels ever bring you this way again. The free people of this Wasteland will never forget you."
"Sir, I..." She spread her hands helplessly. "I don't know what to say."
"Well, we can't all be as eloquent as Lincoln," said Hannibal with a smile. "But I understand. Now, if you don't mind, I think Caleb wants to get to work..."