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aaaaaaaagh_skyEllen looked around, panting, and did her best to wipe the unspeakable splatter off the armor Mr. Benton had given her. It didn't work. "Do they do that often?" she asked Cross, her voice shaking. "Throw their guts, I mean?"
"I've seen it happen a time or two," said the Star Paladin, who seemed to be in no hurry to take off her helmet. "Ghouls capable of that kind of attack are rare. If that's the worst we encounter on our journey, we should count ourselves lucky."
"That was nasty," Ellen says. "It's still setting off my Geiger counter..."
"I'm sorry about that. We'll have to- Dogmeat, stop." Dogmeat was seldom prone to listening to people other than Ellen, but the snap in Cross's voice was enough to pull him up short. "That is not for chewing on."
Ellen fought down a gag and turned away. They were still in what Cross referred to as the Underworks, a complex of tunnels and passages that linked the old Bethesda sewers to the tunnels at the very edge of DC proper. The whole place smelled like sick things had crawled into it to die. It had one advantage, though: no raiders. The ruined buildings above were crawling with them. And while Ellen would normally have wanted to clear the whole sorry lot of them out, she and Cross just didn't have time. They had to get to Vault 108 and search it, quickly, if they were going to have any chance of keeping the Enclave from finding a GECK first.
The thought of pre-war tech reminded her. Ellen had wanted to get the Giddyup Buttercup parts she'd salvaged from Milliways. If they couldn't get a Brahmin to carry their supplies, at least a life-sized robot horse could handle some of it. The question was how to pull it off without giving Cross reason to ask too many questions. Fortunately the Underworks were so labyrinthine and complex that an idea suggested itself. Ellen looked at the splattered ghoul remains. I'm sorry, she thought, and I'll pray for you the same as anyone else- but I need to do something else first.
She bent over to lay the corpse straight and inhaled, a long deliberate breath of godawful stink that set off every element of gag reflex she had. With a whimper, she turned and ran for the nearest side tunnel to have a door. Cross, she reckoned, would follow- but not until Ellen had had time to throw up, and to slip into Milliways for those horse parts. If Cross found the horse parts in the process, she'd have no reason to wonder where Ellen was getting mysterious supplies as well as mysterious people.
The Underworks finally gave way to a narrow set of stairs that opened into daylight. "We should be out of range of trouble," said Cross. "Once we get up there, let's see if we can't get this thing assembled, and if it works."
"No arguments here," said Ellen. "I never thought I'd get tired of being underground."
Cross chuckled and started up the stairs. As Ellen was about to crest the top of the stairs, Cross froze. "Damn," she spat. "Company."
Two men in badly patched leather armor, one of whom had severed human hands hanging from his belt, were watching them. Both the men were carrying assault rifles. Behind them were several other figures, too far off to see detail, too close for comfort.
For a long moment, no one moved. Somewhere in the distance Ella Fitzgerald crooned that Into each life some rain must fall.
An idea sparked in Ellen's head; she stepped forward and held up her left arm. "Do you see this?" she said, even as the men readied their rifles.
"Ellen, what-"
"I know what I'm doing, Star Paladin," Ellen muttered. She raised her voice again. "Do you see this? What I'm wearing, here." She tapped the Pip-Boy with one gloved finger. "You know what this is?"
"That's a Pip-Boy," the man with the hands on his belt answered unwillingly. "I seen 'em in old pictures."
"That's right." Ellen nodded once. "They give them out in Vault 101 when you turn ten years old."
"Yeah?" said the other man. "So?"
"So it means," said Ellen, "that I'm from Vault 101. You've got Galaxy News Radio playing. Do you ever listen to Three Dog?"
There was a silence, but it wasn't a silence of denial, only of slowly percolating thought.
"If you listen to Three Dog then you know who I am," Ellen said. "And if you know who I am then you know what happened in Grayditch. And what happened to the mutants who got between me and Reilly's Rangers. And the slavers at the Lincoln Memorial." She paused, letting it sink in (and being very, very glad that Three Dog didn't know about the assistance she'd had from Milliways at the time). "Now ask yourselves this: what do you think is going to happen to you if you give me and my companion here any trouble?"
"... I didn't see nothin'," the one with the hands on his belt said suddenly. "How 'bout you, Frank?"
"I think I left some iguana bits on the fire. I should go check that out right now."
"Smart move," said Ellen. "Come on, Star Paladin. Let's go."
She waited for the men to scurry off. Then she turned and started walking north, but the instant they were over the next rise in the landscape she bent over, put her hands on her knees, and had a shivering, gasping fit the likes of which she hadn't seen since her first week out of the Vault. Cross said nothing, only patted her on the shoulder until it was over.
"I've seen it happen a time or two," said the Star Paladin, who seemed to be in no hurry to take off her helmet. "Ghouls capable of that kind of attack are rare. If that's the worst we encounter on our journey, we should count ourselves lucky."
"That was nasty," Ellen says. "It's still setting off my Geiger counter..."
"I'm sorry about that. We'll have to- Dogmeat, stop." Dogmeat was seldom prone to listening to people other than Ellen, but the snap in Cross's voice was enough to pull him up short. "That is not for chewing on."
Ellen fought down a gag and turned away. They were still in what Cross referred to as the Underworks, a complex of tunnels and passages that linked the old Bethesda sewers to the tunnels at the very edge of DC proper. The whole place smelled like sick things had crawled into it to die. It had one advantage, though: no raiders. The ruined buildings above were crawling with them. And while Ellen would normally have wanted to clear the whole sorry lot of them out, she and Cross just didn't have time. They had to get to Vault 108 and search it, quickly, if they were going to have any chance of keeping the Enclave from finding a GECK first.
The thought of pre-war tech reminded her. Ellen had wanted to get the Giddyup Buttercup parts she'd salvaged from Milliways. If they couldn't get a Brahmin to carry their supplies, at least a life-sized robot horse could handle some of it. The question was how to pull it off without giving Cross reason to ask too many questions. Fortunately the Underworks were so labyrinthine and complex that an idea suggested itself. Ellen looked at the splattered ghoul remains. I'm sorry, she thought, and I'll pray for you the same as anyone else- but I need to do something else first.
She bent over to lay the corpse straight and inhaled, a long deliberate breath of godawful stink that set off every element of gag reflex she had. With a whimper, she turned and ran for the nearest side tunnel to have a door. Cross, she reckoned, would follow- but not until Ellen had had time to throw up, and to slip into Milliways for those horse parts. If Cross found the horse parts in the process, she'd have no reason to wonder where Ellen was getting mysterious supplies as well as mysterious people.
The Underworks finally gave way to a narrow set of stairs that opened into daylight. "We should be out of range of trouble," said Cross. "Once we get up there, let's see if we can't get this thing assembled, and if it works."
"No arguments here," said Ellen. "I never thought I'd get tired of being underground."
Cross chuckled and started up the stairs. As Ellen was about to crest the top of the stairs, Cross froze. "Damn," she spat. "Company."
Two men in badly patched leather armor, one of whom had severed human hands hanging from his belt, were watching them. Both the men were carrying assault rifles. Behind them were several other figures, too far off to see detail, too close for comfort.
For a long moment, no one moved. Somewhere in the distance Ella Fitzgerald crooned that Into each life some rain must fall.
An idea sparked in Ellen's head; she stepped forward and held up her left arm. "Do you see this?" she said, even as the men readied their rifles.
"Ellen, what-"
"I know what I'm doing, Star Paladin," Ellen muttered. She raised her voice again. "Do you see this? What I'm wearing, here." She tapped the Pip-Boy with one gloved finger. "You know what this is?"
"That's a Pip-Boy," the man with the hands on his belt answered unwillingly. "I seen 'em in old pictures."
"That's right." Ellen nodded once. "They give them out in Vault 101 when you turn ten years old."
"Yeah?" said the other man. "So?"
"So it means," said Ellen, "that I'm from Vault 101. You've got Galaxy News Radio playing. Do you ever listen to Three Dog?"
There was a silence, but it wasn't a silence of denial, only of slowly percolating thought.
"If you listen to Three Dog then you know who I am," Ellen said. "And if you know who I am then you know what happened in Grayditch. And what happened to the mutants who got between me and Reilly's Rangers. And the slavers at the Lincoln Memorial." She paused, letting it sink in (and being very, very glad that Three Dog didn't know about the assistance she'd had from Milliways at the time). "Now ask yourselves this: what do you think is going to happen to you if you give me and my companion here any trouble?"
"... I didn't see nothin'," the one with the hands on his belt said suddenly. "How 'bout you, Frank?"
"I think I left some iguana bits on the fire. I should go check that out right now."
"Smart move," said Ellen. "Come on, Star Paladin. Let's go."
She waited for the men to scurry off. Then she turned and started walking north, but the instant they were over the next rise in the landscape she bent over, put her hands on her knees, and had a shivering, gasping fit the likes of which she hadn't seen since her first week out of the Vault. Cross said nothing, only patted her on the shoulder until it was over.