Craterside Supply

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

When Ellen opens the door again, it leads back into Megaton, which is as dusty and cow-smelling as ever. "This way," she says, picking her way first down the stairs cut into the side of the crater, then up a winding walkway that leads over a shack with a two-headed cow out front. "That's the town clinic, by the way. Not that I've been in there yet, but that's where I was headed when I found myself at the Bar."

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods rapidly. You don't leave yuk like that lying around. It could infect anything.

[aeons_crackshot]

"Very true," Annabelle agrees. "I have no idea what that might do, and I don't want to find out." She'll keep trouble away from Ellen while she's working.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen makes a point of drenching the whole sorry mass before striking a match and dropping it into the middle. The bright blue flames leap up joyfully right away. "Good riddance to bad rubbish," she mutters. "I have no idea what that thing was, but it can't have been anything good."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle nods. When you have as much experience with Mad Science as she does, none of the options that come to mind are very pleasant. "I don't see any more of those things."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh good," says Ellen. "Then let's keep going, before any more of them show up."

It only takes a little travel along the edge of the watercourse to make it clear that it's not the Potomac, just a rather nasty pond of considerable size. Ellen grumbles to herself, but keeps moving; it's not as if the scrub and stone are going to get any less common, after all, or the blackened stumps of trees-that-were any more green.

As they start making their eventual way up a hill to get a good look at the nearby territory (Ellen's almost sure they ought to be to the marker by now), a faint tinkle of music can be heard- flutes, perhaps, or fifes.

[aeons_crackshot]

"Hold a minute," Annabelle calls out, "I think I hear music close by."

"Considering the lot you ran into last time, I don't think we can count on any people we find being friendly." Annabelle readies her shotgun, just in case.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen nods, readying her gun. Something silvery flashes in the distance; she squints... "Oh," she says. "Another one of those."

The fife music ("Dixie", by the sound of things) is coming from a floating metallic sphere with a grille over one end and stiff trailing wires projecting off the other. It appears to be slowly cruising back and forth over the remains of an old road.

"Some kind of robot. They're harmless, I think."

[aeons_crackshot]

"Another one? Do you know what it's doing that for?" Annabelle looks a bit puzzled.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"The last one had some kind of a recording," Ellen says. "First it played 'Hail Columbia', and then the speech started. I wonder...."

Sure enough, the music gives way and a twangy man's voice begins instead.

"Hello again, America the magnificent. This is President Eden-"

"I've never heard the name, other than on one of these robots," Ellen interjects.

"And I was hoping we could talk. Let's talk about government, shall we. Or more specifically, your government, dear America..."

[aeons_crackshot]

"He might not even be alive anymore, depending on how old these things are. It certainly doesn't seem like anyone is making sure there are people around to hear the message."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"The Enclave. Just who is the Enclave? Why, now that's simple, the Enclave is you, America-"

"That's what worries me. President Campbell was president at the time of the War, and the President before him was named Freyermuth. I've never heard of this man."

"-your friend, your, your neighbor. And well yes, the Enclave is me as well... As your president, it is my responsibility to preside over our great democracy. So, as your president, I am the voice, I am the heart, and soul of the Enclave."

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle snorts at the speech. "Someone has delusions of grandeur. I'd be very surprised if there's anything like a national government left with your world the way it is."

She pauses for a moment, "Not that any of that means this Eden fellow isn't potentially dangerous."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"-But only together, together, can we hope to reach our full potential. The way we were before the war. Whole. Beautiful. Powerful. One Enclave, One America. Now and Forever. And now, dearest America, we must say farewell-"

Ellen shakes her head. "I think we should take him at his word and keep going," she says. "These bots give me the creeps. Besides, I think Minefield's just over the next rise."

[aeons_crackshot]

"They are a bit creepy," Annabelle agrees. She moves to follow Ellen, keeping an eye out for trouble.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The music resumes as they leave, switching over to what sounds like 'The Halls of Montezuma' this time. The bot seems quite content to let them go.

Over the next rise, the rusted remains of electrical towers crawl from nowhere particularly interesting to some unknown spot over the horizon. The lines from one of the might have led off to the southeast at some point; there's a shorter, stumpier set of girders that way. And that road that the bot was hovering over? It's here, too, snaking around the bottom of the rise and through high piles of stone and rubble, cutting its way at last into a cluster of former homes under the shadow of a half-gutted water tower.

Ellen looks down at her Pip-Boy, then up at the buildings. "I think that's it," she says. "I think that's Minefield up there."

[aeons_crackshot]

It's still strange seeing the ruins of what used to be civilization. "Do you have a particular plan in mind for locating the mines?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Er... Moira said they were used to make it unsafe to walk in places, right?" says Ellen. "So... I was sort of assuming they'd be... you know, scattered in areas where it would make the most sense to walk. I was thinking I'd say, 'which way would I go if I wanted to get right into town without taking much trouble', and then I'd move as slowly and carefully and low to the ground as possible along that route and look for anything unusual."

[aeons_crackshot]

"That was about what I was thinking, although we may want to pick up a few rocks."

"If anything looks suspicious, we can toss a rock at it and see what happens."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Good idea," says Ellen, and starts gathering them up. There's plenty of the scattered alongside the roadbed, and more in between what remains of the asphalt. When she's loaded up her pockets she starts forward slowly- very slowly- along the road itself. After all, it's the most logical route of approach.

No mines yet, though. The almost-completely-ruined billboard by the side of the road (it held a car ad, once) falters and wobbles a little in the wind that fails to bring any coolness to the August day, but nothing appears on the road itself. Even as they draw close to the very first house, which looks mostly intact save for a stoved-in portion of the roof. True, all its windows are boarded over, and a bloody hand-print marks the front door, but-

"Annabelle?" says Ellen, stopping suddenly and pointing to a pile of rubble that makes the street mostly impassable up ahead. "What's that yellow thing sticking out of those rocks look like to you?"

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle's picked up a few rocks herself. At Ellen's question she peers at the yellow thing. "I'm not sure. Do you want me to hit it from here with a rock?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"By all means," murmurs Ellen, backing up carefully.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle moves back to a safe distance and tosses the rock at the yellow thing. She hits it dead on.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Kaboom!*

Once the dust clears there is a lot less rubble. "I'm guessing that was a mine," Annabelle says dryly.

Annabelle's good humor disappears when a gunshot rings out. Her choice of words at that likely expands Ellen's profane vocabulary. Annabelle's looking, but she can't see who made that shot.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen ducks and covers fast when that happens, although her eyes are wide when she looks up. "Is that car smoking?" she says, indicating the half-intact hulk across the road somewhat farther up. "Did it hit the-"

It's not smoking any more. It's on fire now.

If Annabelle has any kind of a danger sense this is the part where it goes off in spades.

[aeons_crackshot]

Does Annabelle have any kind of danger sense? Does a bear poo in the woods?

Annabelle survived 14 years as an adventurer, and her instincts are screaming at her right now. Annabelle is all business right now. Someone is going to be in big trouble once Annabelle catches sight of them.

"I think we've got trouble, Ellen. Stay sharp!"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Okay-"

And that would be where the car explodes.

At least it's a small mushroom cloud...?


(Oh, and whoever shot at the car takes another potshot in their direction almost as soon as the smoke clears.)