"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."