The Trail

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The door opens, as it often does, on a patch of scrub desert under a cloud-studded sky. Peering eastward, you can make out the shape of a shattered, once-elevated highway in the light of the just-risen sun, and perhaps the jagged edges of the tallest parts of the Megaton city walls. The air is a little cooler than it's been on past visits, and here and there the brown and yellow scrub that characterizes Wasteland vegetation seems to be sharing space with hazes of green.

There's also kind of an overwhelming stink of cow, because Ellen left Megaton astride Shiphrah and Puah and the Brahmin is busily chewing its cud with one head nearby. Ellen pats the other head briefly with one stealth-suited hand as she says, "We're not far from the caravan route where the raiders ambushed our water men. This is the nearest door I could find."

Comments

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle catches that particular something and brings up her rifle to have a better look through the scope.

"We've got company on the horizon. Male, 20's, dark hair. No armor, but he's carrying a hunting rifle. Also, looks like he's had the shit kicked out of him."

"Don't think he's a raider, but he might have had a run in with the bastards we're tracking."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo unslings his rifle and peers through the scope, his trigger finger on the magazine well.

"Could be just a guy lookin' for some game to hunt. Won't know until we get closer. Assumin' he don't spook."

He looks away from the scope, eyeballing the figure. It's about 200 yards of open ground between them and him, long enough for him to see them coming. Also, conveniently enough, short enough for him to take a potshot at them, should he so desire.

"Think you can get behind him while we work our way toward him, Ellen?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The goggles come off, the suit's headpiece comes up, and-

foomp

-there is a vaguely person-shaped blur where Ellen used to be.

"I can do that, sure," the blur says cheerfully.

(She loves this suit.)

[aeons_crackshot]

Damn, that suit of armor is handy. It's even better than the trick Whitley used to be able to pull to make people not notice him.

Annabelle grins. "I'll take whichever side you don't cover, Voodoo. Just in case."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods, exchanging the rifle for his machine gun. "I got his left. No use doin' this part sneaky. If he runs, beat his ass. Or, y'know, tackle him. Whichever comes easier."

And so they set off, plodding over the foothills, trying to look as diplomatic as they can.

(It's more of an effort for some than for others.)

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It's a good try, it really is. And it's probably why the next time one of them gets a look up at the fellow's position, he's still just watching them, rather than firing on any of them.

(Well. That and it's a .32 cal hunting rifle that can really only do so much at that distance. But still.)

[boston_bruiser]

Well, so far so good.

Once they're in shouting distance, Voodoo takes the handguard of his M60 in his left hand and waves to the stranger.

"Hey there! How you doin'?"

[aeons_crackshot]

"I'd wager he's not feeling so hot, on account of looking like he's been beat to shit," Annabelle adds, cheerful.

"Did you win?" she asks the stranger.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"I've had better days," the young man calls back, though he doesn't lower his rifle. "I'm still standing, I can say that much."

He's... well, he's squatting, so it's hard to tell his height. And the crude Brahmin-skin clothing he's wearing doesn't really give much about him away. But that's not the face of a man who's eaten properly recently, no sir.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods as they come more or less face-to-face with the stranger. "Ain't we all, ain't we all. Well, I won't beat around the bush. We're superheroes, and we're lookin' for some folk. I'm Voodoo, she's-" a split-second pause as he looks over Annabelle - "-Elastigirl."


Yeah. Elastigirl. That'll work.

[masterofgunfu]

"I'm Vixen," Andrea can't help adding with a smirk. She's been busy keep an eye on that scorpion and looking for any others. She also doesn't want to know what name Voodoo would come up with.

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle's expression is a little put upon at the mention of her "name".

"I lost the coin toss," she 'explains' with the sigh of someone who has done this many, many times.

"You wouldn't, by any chance, have run into a bunch of raiders?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The man looks as if he's trying very hard not to say really? Really?; eventually he says, "Superheroes, huh? Canterbury's a long way from here."

Three Dog won't shut up about the place.

At- ahem- Elastigirl's question, his expression takes a bitter turn. "It's been more or less nothing but raiders lately," he says. "The last bunch's long gone, thank God."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods, his hands still in his pockets and his mouth taking on a thoughtful frown that seems to say there it is, pal, there it is.

"Well, listen," he says, shifting on his feet, "we're lookin' for a group of raiders that ambushed a caravan yesterday somewhere close to here. You see any gooners passin' by here with some real squared-away guns? They were prob'ly high off their tits, if that helps any."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You just described about three quarters of the freaks in this part of the Wasteland," the man says. "If they're anything like every other merry band of wastrels, they're probably back at Evergreen Mills by now, assuming something didn't eat them first."

There's a pause.

"Were you planning on going after them?"

[aeons_crackshot]

"This lot had better weapons than normal, nearly new."

"Yeah, we're going after them. You might say it's in the job description. Evergreen Mills, eh? Where is that from here?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"You're not going to have much of a chance if there's only three of you," says the man bitterly. "Armored battle cow or no. They're entrenched as hell in there and they've got their very own minefield. For your sake, I hope you can fly."

He jerks a thumb over his shoulder, in a direction not too different from the way the scent trails seemed to indicate. "About half a day's foot travel from here. It's an old railroad depot built into the sides of a canyon and dug way, way down into the local rock."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods. "Wicked. Thanks, dude," he says, clapping the stranger on the shoulder. "C'mon, Elastigirl and Vixen, let's get-" -cue a half-second of completely blanking on the cow's name- "-Daisy saddled up and head over there."

[aeons_crackshot]

"Oh, you'd be surprised," Annabelle replies with a sharp, rather dangerous looking, smile. "I've seen worse odds."

"Thanks for the information, Mister."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

A hesitant look crosses his face; he nods slowly and says, "You're welcome-"

And then, apparently, reaches some kind of a decision. With the uneasy face of someone who got a postcard from the doctor saying "Call us about the abnormality", he says, "Say, question. You three don't by any chance know where I could find this 101 woman they talk about on the radio?"

[boston_bruiser]

That stops Voodoo cold.

But after a split second, he decides to err on the side of safety and shakes his head, his lower lip jutted out in a way that seems to say sorry, pal.

"Nah, man, no clue. Why you ask?"

[aeons_crackshot]

Annabelle too, decides to err on the side of caution after a split second. "She was in Canterbury Commons a while ago, but I couldn't tell you where she is right now."

Which is technically true, as Ellen is currently invisible. "You owe her money or something?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

He scrubs at his face with one hand and a despairing look before answering.

"I'm sorry. Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you three have a prayer in Hell of wiping out what's nesting in Evergreen Mills by yourselves. If... if half of what I hear about her is true, she might be able to do it," he says.

"No offense."

[boston_bruiser]

...huh. Okay.

Voodoo nods along, crossing his arms.

"Well, I think we've done pretty well on our own so far. No need to take up any of her time just yet."

[aeons_crackshot]

"We're not going to go in guns blazing. If it looks too ugly, well, we'll see what help we can get."