The door opens from Milliways onto the tumbletown ruins of what used to be an industrial area on the fringes of Arlington. The temperature is summertime-warm, the air dry; the last rains to pass through here are long since gone. Overhead, a scavenger bird or two circles, visible only to people who know what they're looking for. A breeze listlessly stirs the air, kicking up brief dust-devils along the shattered ruin of the local roads. Beyond that, the place is quiet in the way that only emptiness can bring.
"This is where I came in," Ellen says over her shoulder. "Like I mentioned the other day, it's about a day's travel to the Fort Bannister region from here. There's still some pre-war asphalt laid down here but pretty soon it all gives way to open sand and scrub. The nearest radiation source is a hundred yards northeast of here, and we're not going in that direction, so unless my Geiger counter goes off without warning we should be all right."
"This is where I came in," Ellen says over her shoulder. "Like I mentioned the other day, it's about a day's travel to the Fort Bannister region from here. There's still some pre-war asphalt laid down here but pretty soon it all gives way to open sand and scrub. The nearest radiation source is a hundred yards northeast of here, and we're not going in that direction, so unless my Geiger counter goes off without warning we should be all right."
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:14 pm (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:29 pm (UTC)It should be noted here that Talon Company participates in one of the great military traditions of history, namely: if it smells bad, make the guy below you do it instead. The youngest and least experienced Talons have the duty of securing the Brahmin and the kennels, among other forms of scutwork. They do their job- the punishment for dereliction of duty is pretty severe- but they aren't always as diligent as older Talons might be. Sometimes animals escape, even if they're supposed to be held in reserve until a senior Talon comes to pick one up.
Which is why a faint sound of growling is drawing closer, unaccompanied by human feet.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:32 pm (UTC)Hopefully, Annabelle can handle the dog without having to kill it.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:38 pm (UTC)Now there are two sets of growling noises.
... yeah, this is gonna end well.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:40 pm (UTC)She searches for the dog, trying to get close to it.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:44 pm (UTC)(Ellen has no real concept of pets, and is not entirely clear on the comprehension gap that exists between humans and animals. Dogmeat should, by her reckoning, understand all of English if he understands some.)
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:51 pm (UTC)If her ears don't deceive her, the dog should be right over here...
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 07:57 pm (UTC)Doesn't smell too good, either.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:02 pm (UTC)"Easy, boy," Annabelle says quietly. Moving in to grab its muzzle and hold it shut.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:09 pm (UTC)It's thrashing pretty hard, though, and trying to claw at Annabelle's arms to get her to let go.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:13 pm (UTC)She knows a bit about dogs. It's not so much about what you say with words as what your tone of voice and body say. Right now, her body language is saying 'I am dominant, you will submit.'
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:18 pm (UTC)(Dogmeat is currently looking disgruntled. Ellen in power armor outmasses him by a really amazing amount.)
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:20 pm (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:22 pm (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:25 pm (UTC)"I think we're good now, Ellen. So long as Dogmeat doesn't attack this fellow, anyway."
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:28 pm (UTC)There's a tent up ahead with its back to their location. Ellen thinks for a moment, then gestures silently at the canvas. Peek under it or slice it open?
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-18 08:30 pm (UTC)At her gesture, Annabelle makes a motion that suggests 'peek under it'. That will be less obvious if anyone comes along behind them later.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 12:50 am (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 12:53 am (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 12:54 am (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 12:57 am (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 01:01 am (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 01:04 am (UTC)She's listening for signs of other people and observing her prey, trying to determine how alert he is and whether she can easily cut his throat with her knife in the armor he's wearing.
Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 01:12 am (UTC)Re: Team Delta
Date: 2010-03-19 01:18 am (UTC)He may never even know what killed him. Annabelle's cut is quick and precise across the carotids once she sneaks up behind him.
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