Voodoo - Under Way

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Back before the Great War, if for some reason you wanted to travel from Washington to Las Vegas without taking a plane or a train, you got in the car and you made for the nearest interstate, and you didn't think twice about it until your kids in the back seat started screaming at you to stop at the next hotel with color TV and a pool. But that was then, and this is now, and following the remains of the interstate blindly out of DC will get you eaten by Deathclaws if you're lucky. The safest routes follow older, smaller roads- where roads still exist at all, since DC was a massive strategic target- and they aren't particularly direct. All the direct ones go to places Voodoo and his people really don't want to be.

Fortunately, a few of the old US highways lead to places that weren't completely pounded flat by the Bomb, and some of the old state roads may have fallen to pieces but still make their presence felt, and if you have a compass and an understanding of just how far magnetic North has moved since your own time and enough patience, you can make good use of that to get to places that just might have more humans than horrors.

Comments

[boston_bruiser]

The roads are good guides, Voodoo doesn't deny that - but ever since they've moved out of the wastes around Baltimore and D.C. and into hillier country, he's gone out of his way to avoid them where he can. Old World infrastructure planners had commuters in mind with these roads, not military columns - here, along this portion of the Cheat River Valley, State Route 51 is sandwiched in between the Briery Mountains and the Lantz Ridge. Both are a good thousand or so feet off the valley floor - perfect for ne'er-do'wells looking to take a few potshots at some schmucks moving along the open road.

And so they're spread out in a line about halfway up the ridge that leads to Cannon Hill, a couple hundred feet above Saltlick Creek. Not high enough to silhouette themselves against the skyline, not low enough to give any ambushers a decisive height advantage. The steer's trundling along at the back of the pack - it's taken the weight of their supplies pretty well so far.

"We're close. We round a few more bends and we'll have eyes on Rowlesburg."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Good," says Al. "We're going to pause there for the night, right? Assuming nothing wants to eat us or skin us or sell us for parts?"

[boston_bruiser]

"It's a pretty big assumption, but yeah."

Hey, when in doubt, assume there's deathclaws.

Eventually, they come to the terminus of the ridgeline. The view there might have looked something like this pre-war - and if you squint pretty hard, it still does. By the looks of things, it wasn't a primary target, but the river has seen better days, and centuries of acid rain has pocked the roofs. Someone tried to rebuild, or at least move things further away from the Cheat - this settlement is ringed with a town wall, a fence about 10 feet high and reinforced intermittently with sheet metal and barbed wire.

"Got movement. Civilians."

Voodoo takes a knee and digs out his binoculars. There's not many that he can see, but there are indeed settlers in the compound. If any of them are armed, he doesn't see the weapons.

"Fawkes, stay with the steer and out of sight for now. Last thing we need is some dude with an itchy trigger finger trying to put one through your brainpan. Kate, Al, stay and make sure nobody sneaks up on Fawkes. Josepha, Hector, you're with me, we're heading down for a meet 'n greet."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Fawkes nods. "A sensible precaution," he rumbles, and takes the steer's left head's halter's lead. "Come, Leo. There's a sheltered spot not very far from here."

Josepha eyes the town below with a measure of suspicion. "Looks pretty quiet," she says. "I have to wonder what they're hiding."

[boston_bruiser]

"Could be they're just shut-ins. Can't imagine much foot traffic comes through here."

The trip down and across the bridge is uneventful, and soon enough they're at the town gate. Voodoo knocks thrice on it with the back of his hand, making sure to keep his carbine cradled against his chest and its muzzle pointed square at the ground. First impressions count.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

After a few moments, there's a faint scraping noise as a small panel slides open at Voodoo's eye level. The person visible on the other side looks to be either standing on his tiptoes or otherwise straining to peer through as he says, "Who goes there?"

(This one, at least, is armed. Even if it's only a drum-fed shotgun rather than something automatic or explosive.)

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo holds one hand up - people like seeing empty hands - and musters his friendliest smile.

"Just some people passin' through the area. You got any racks to spare? It's gettin' dark."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Might do, might do," says the man on the other side of the gate. "Mind if I ask where y'all are coming from first? And just how many of y'all there are?"

[boston_bruiser]

"Comin' from D.C, headin' west."

But there are certain things you just don't tell people you just met in this world - especially people who you can't even see properly.

"Just us three. That cool with you?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

The man turns and converses briefly with someone just out of sight. Then he turns back and says, "We c'n handle that long as everyone involved keeps their pieces stowed where we c'n see them. We don't take kindly to concealed weapons out of nowhere in this town. If you're good with that we'll open the gates. Just don't make me call the robots, mm'kay?"

[boston_bruiser]

With nods to Josepha and Hector:

"I can dig it. We won't start anything."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"'Preciate it."

The port slides shut; the doors start to wheel their way open. They're heavier than they look; one of them has an ancient warning sign on it that may once have promised horrible injuries to anyone who obstructed their closing. There are three people waiting on the other side, the man who'd been questioning Voodoo and a taller, paler pair; all of them are wearing what looks like it was probably once mine safety gear before they started reinforcing it with salvaged armor plates and the like.

The short man smiles. "Welcome to Rowlesburg," he says. "I'm Aaron. This here's Susan, and that's Duffy. Ain't had visitors in a while 'round here, I'm afraid."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo nods, pointing out each of their own trio in return.

"Josepha. Hector. Voodoo. Doesn't surprise me. You guys ain't an easy day's hike from anywhere."

Maybe that's hyperbole, but the point still stands.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Well, we used to git traders'n such now'n again, 'specially up from Cool Springs, but the roads ain't what they used to be," says Aaron. "River washed a fair piece of the old road away, so folks'd have to go up the twenty-six and come back down from Tunnelton. Still got a fair few traders every now and again even with the extra distance, but somethin's gone wrong up Tunnelton way and it's not doin' us any favors."

He shakes his head. "Reckon you three don't much want to hear about that, though. We c'n take you to the old VFW. Joycelyn keeps the beds clean for folks passin' through."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo looks around, taking the town in. They seem like decent enough folk, but Ellen's told him about Andale, and it's hard to forget the way she talked about it. Best not to make any assumptions.

"Now you just got me curious. What got assed-up?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Kingwood Tunnel," says Duffy quietly. "Old, old tunnel, back when they built things super-solid and dug as deep as Vaults just to give the trains places to go."

Aaron nods. "Most of Tunnelton was folks who lived in or near that tunnel," he says. "Did a fair job keepin' it in repair, too, least as far as anyone can 'round here, but no man alive c'n stop a landslide when the mountain decides it wants to move."

"Can't get through the tunnel any more, no point tryin'," Duffy says.

[boston_bruiser]

"-shit. Sorry t'hear that."

He looks around, but doesn't see anything that'd be useful for moving more than a pound or so of dirt at time.

"Ain't this coal-minin' country? You guys've gotta have some pre-War excavation equipment sittin' around."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Most of it's up Manheim way," says Aaron. "And we'd use it if we could, but- well." He glances at Duffy and Susan. "That fence and gate of ours ain't just for markin' out the city limits. Anybody shoot at y'all on your way here?"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo shakes his head. "Not so much as a potshot. You got a raider problem, then?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"'fraid so," says Aaron. "I got no idea where they came from, but 'bout a week or two after the landslide they started showin' up and pickin' off travelers. It's about as much as a man's life is worth to try'n get into Tunnelton now. They're all over the place worse than bloatflies on a dung patch. Had to move all our farm animals underground to keep 'em safe."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo looks between Josepha and Hector. Then to Aaron.

"So I ain't been entirely honest with you folks. There's six of us and a steer, headed for the Mojave. Decided to play it safe in case you guys weren't all that you seemed. Heard of cannibals back in the Capital - it don't pay to assume, y'know?"

He holds up a hand to preemptively stop any interruptions.

"Now here's what I'm thinkin'. We're trained, we're coordinated. So long's we can find them, any fight those raiders put up against us ain't gonna be worth a piss in the wind. We take care of those raiders for you, and you guys give us your two best hogs and racks in the VFW for the night. How's that sound?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Can't say I blame you for bein' on edge," says Aaron. "Fella came through here about... mmm, Susan, what was it? Year, year and a half?"

"Year and a half back," says Susan. "Maybe a little more."

Aaron nods. "Some kind of ex-mercenary. Black armor," he says. "Man was running scared from the Capital and didn't want to spend more than half the night in one place. Some of the things he said used to happen down there would turn your hair white. If that's where you're comin' from, I'd be on edge too. You gonna want those hogs for breedin' or eatin'?"

[boston_bruiser]

"For eatin'. Gotta get food wherever we can."

He keys his headset as he takes a topo map out of a pouch on his backpack. "Kate, Al, Fawkes, it's Voodoo. Town's cool. Come on down."

As requisitions a nearby workbench to fold out the map on:

"-oh, yeah. One other thing. Don't shoot our heavy weapons guy. He's friendly, you got my word on it. -anyway, you guys are here, and Tunnelton's here. Now give me your best guess as to where these assholes're holed up."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Aaron leans over the map and runs a finger westward from Tunnelton along the line of what used to be the B&O Railroad. "Most of 'em are here," he says, "between Tunnelton and the river, from what we've seen of it. We've been lucky they ain't tried to come south too much, or they'd hit Manheim and our animals'd be toast as soon as they could get the door open."

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo grunts, eyes scanning the area marked out by Aaron. "Lots of strip mines in the area. If they're hidin' out in one of those it shouldn't be too hard to get an accurate count."

He keys his headset again.

"Al, when you get here, dump your pack, we're going out on a recon. I'll brief you when you get here."