Voodoo - Charm City

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It's a long bit of walking from Philadelphia to DC, but Voodoo and his people have a few advantages in that regard. One is that Ellen's provided them with a map of the route she took, including landmarks along the way. Another is that, while it's a good distance, it's nowhere near as long as the trip from Canada or New York to Philly. Perspective can be key.

The route on the map doesn't go anywhere near I-95 for most of its length, though. And there's a thickly drawn band around a not inconsiderable piece of territory- most of which is inside the curve of what used to be Interstate 695.

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

It's strange, for sure - but Voodoo doesn't spare it more than a few seconds of thought as he traces a finger along the map. He's steadied it along what used to be a concrete divider, brow furrowed in thought as he finishes fixing their position.

"We're on-track. We move quickly and we'll be in D.C. by sundown."

("A group of Outcasts less inclined towards reconciliation, or even peace, was reported setting out from the Capital region-")

"You see someone, don't shoot 'less they do. 'specially if they're wearing power armor."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Fine by me," says Josepha. "Are we likely to run into some kind of trouble this close in?"

[boston_bruiser]

"If we do, here's where it'll happen," he says, tapping the approximate location of Baltimore on the map. "Once we're past it, we're home free. If I ain't mistaken, the Brotherhood makes a habit of conducting presence patrols in and around the Beltway, so we should be safe once in D.C."

He tucks the map back into his pack and adjusts his carbine's sling. "Still. I ain't come this far to die or waste ammunition we don't gotta. We get in any trouble, we try talking our way out first. I'm on point."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The others nod, and fall in behind Voodoo.

There's a chemical sting on the wind out of the southeast, something foul and off without the organic elements it'd need to convey a sense of rot. If a paint factory could go rancid, maybe, the result would be something like that smell. When it's not blowing on the wind, though, the air is still and quiet, unstirred by sound or smoke.

A comment might be made about the state of the Baltimore skyline in the distance, but that would have required Baltimore to have ever had a skyline worth mentioning in the first place. Which... sorry, no.

[boston_bruiser]

(Something something We Don't Go To Baltimore, am I right?)

"There it is. We're closer to D.C. by the minute."

Voodoo can live with the quiet. The smell, too. Usually too much of the former means something's kooky, but if someone's watching them, he can't see them, and he wouldn't set an ambush on this road - there's not enough cover to be had, and the sightlines along the road are too long.

With a few gestures to the rest of them to maintain their spacing, he continues on.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

It's a sound enough assessment, and it works both ways- the road's a bad place to set an ambush, but a decent enough place to assess someone from a distance.

At least, that's what the brown-clad figure down the road, leaning against the corroded remains of half a highway signpost, seems to be doing.

[boston_bruiser]

And so Voodoo shifts his carbine to one hand, raising the other in greeting as they close the distance. No need to start this off on the wrong foot.

"Hey there. You local?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The man is somewhat darker-skinned than Josepha, although with Wasteland living conditions it's always hard to tell how much of something like that is natural and how much of it is just daily hygiene. The only visible protective gear he has on is a heavy leather duster, but there's enough bulk to it to suggest it's layered over something more substantial. He turns a little more in Voodoo's direction, a curved scar running from his hairline to one of his eyebrows visible for a moment as he nods. "As close to local as anyone gets these days," he says. "You ain't."

It's not a question. It might as well be written on the travelers' faces, after all.

[boston_bruiser]

"No kidding."

A good portion of former Baltimore should be visible from here, except that it's not. Instead, what remains of it can be charitably described as "ruins" and un-charitably described as "if the Elbonians from Dilbert had their interminable brownish muck replaced with a mélange of a city's worth of highly toxic and radioactive compounds". Entire sections of the city are gone, not even their foundations left standing, and the rest looks like - well, like a couple dozen nukes hit it.

Voodoo surveys the scene, and lets out a long, low whistle.

"No wonder people ain't talking about this place. War do that?"

Later

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

There was a time when the building to which Omar directed Voodoo and his friends was a stoutly built granite imitation of Romanesque architecture with visible resemblance to historic Italian basilicas in Ravenna. That was a long time ago, though, both in terms of the building's structure and in terms of anybody remembering those resemblances. The church took a pounding like everything else in this hell-pit of a city vicinity; about a third of the bell-tower's missing, and the roof's so heavily pitted and cracked with the ravages of time that you'd get more protection from a Brahmin skin strung over the holes. Still, granite goes a long way. Where other buildings in the vicinity would fall apart if you sneezed on them wrong, the remains of the First Methodist Episcopal Church still stand, and give the impression of not moving any time soon.

[boston_bruiser]

And believe you me, Voodoo's just fine with that.

"We'll set an observation post in the tower. I'll take first watch."

With a gentle push, the front door creaks open, and Voodoo steps inside. The interior is rounded, and centered around a platform where there is an organ and a pulpit. The pulpit has been hacked away for firewood, and the organ has suffered the decay of centuries of nonmaintenance.

"Start checkin' rooms," he says, every step light as he moves along the wall toward a door close by.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Will do," Hector promises, and readies his shotgun- not that it wasn't ready before, but there's a certain mental difference between 'someone might come out of the ruins' and 'someone might be just around the corner in front of me'. The others follow his lead and start moving cautiously through the dark-painted interior; Al's the first one to call out that he's found something in a nearby vestibule- a generator and an inactive set of lights.

[boston_bruiser]

"Check if it's got fuel," Voodoo calls back. "-and if it does, hook those lights up, it's gettin' dark."

Not that he doesn't have NVGs, but it's best to conserve the batteries on those.

The rooms are unlocked, and a cursory search reveals nothing but modest traces of former habitation. A desk in one room is littered with box tops torn off Sugar Bomb, but there's nothing of value in the desks themselves.

"Ain't nobody living here," Voodoo says, walking back out what looks to be the preacher's office. "Not for the long-term, anyway. We would've smelled it, otherwise. How's that generator coming, Al?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Almost got it," Al reports. "Gimme a minute-"

There's a few sputtering, unhappy noises, and then the lights flicker on. They're not great, but they're enough to see and navigate by, and they're probably enough to keep things that live in small dark spaces from coming out to investigate newcomers.

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo appreciates this! The less radroaches he has to step on, the better.

He checks his watch, synched to this world's time with Ellen's help just before he left Philly. "Got two more hours of daylight left. Good time to clean your weapons, eat, sleep, whatever you want. Not planning on quittin' this place until first light tomorrow."

He looks around, nodding as he appraises the structure.

"Church's bulletproof. Only way for a noiseless entry is through the roof - the doors creak too damn much. All goes well, it'll be a quiet night."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"We can hope," says Kate. "How long of a watch are you taking?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Four hours. Figuring a 14-hour night, that leaves you guys with one three-hour shift apiece. Last one in the tower comes down and wakes us up at first light."

He looks at each of them in turn and nods, starting up the stairs to the belltower.

"Holler if you need anything."

The Morning After

[boston_bruiser]

The sun's just starting to peek over the horizon when Hector wakes them up. They're out on the road towards D.C. not long after that, in a standard patrol formation. The road isn't terribly preserved, if you consider what it's been through - but it's still not something you'd want to drive over.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't itching to head in the direction of last night's firefight. But as they say, curiosity killed the cat - best not to stick his nose into it unless the opportunity presents itself.


-speaking of, there's a familiar figure just up the road.

"Omar? That you?"

Re: The Morning After

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The leather coat's the same, but sometimes you just don't have time to change when you get out of bed in the morning. Omar's wearing satin pajama pants underneath it, by the look of things, and couldn't possibly care less.

"Mornin', brah," he says amiably. "You all right this mornin'? It gets noisy around here some nights."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods, playing along. "I'd say so. Don't know how you guys manage."

A beat, as he tucks his hands into his pockets.


"-smart of you, usin' us to lure Russell out of hiding."

He might not have a complete picture of what's been going down in this town, but sometimes all it takes to fill in the gaps is a little thinking.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Safest way to do it, all 'round," says Omar, unperturbed. "Long as you had the sense to stay in the church, the only people who were gonna get shot were the ones right in the line of fire."

Hey, when a man makes a leap of logic, you owe it to him to let him know he did in fact stick the landing.

[boston_bruiser]

"Wouldn't have done it any different myself."

Another nod.

"All in the game, huh?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Omar smiles faintly, and drops a nod.

"All in the game. Still headed for DC?"

[boston_bruiser]

"D.C., then the Mojave. You stayin' here, I take it?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Seems a shame to let what's left of the place go to waste. 'Sides, Grandma's not leavin' any time soon. This isn't a place you want to leave an old lady alone."