On the edge of the Capitol Wasteland, far west from the Potomac River, removed from any cities or settlements, Suri stood before a large hill with a tall, metal tower resting on the top. It towered high into the air, thin antennae and metal dishes covering every inch of the structure. An oblong metal hub sat atop the tower. The entire tower was sectioned off by a chain link fence.

She began climbing up the hill. The dirt shifted with each step, making it difficult to pull herself up the hill. She reached the top, after a bit of strain. She stopped to catch her breath, sighing lightly. Inside the fenced in area, there was a large, round cylinder standing upright near the metal tower; it was white with a gray, metal box on the front end, and a lever was on the side of the box, pointed down at the ground.

Suri opened up the gate and stepped inside. Now that she was up close, she saw just how tall the tower really was. She tipped her head back to see the top, but she started to lose her balance before she could. She looked back to the white cylinder and approached it. Examining it, she found there was not much else to it aside from what she could see. She figured the tower must have been designed for broadcasting a signal. She'd seen many of them in different parts of the Wasteland. She grabbed hold of the lever and flipped it so that it was pointing up into the air. It set into place with a loud click. There came a dull hum, the sound of something waking up from a long sleep. A new signal appeared on her Pip-Boy. The signal appeared under the name Hotel Echo.

She opened the signal, but nothing came through except the crackling hum of white noise. The signal was dead. Suri closed it and started to search around, thinking the signal must be being broadcast from somewhere nearby. She saw no building or shack that someone could be broadcasting it from. If she was able to find the source, she might have been able to find some supplies inside of it as well, provided that it was abandoned like they usually are. She found the ruins of a house not far from the hill, but nothing was inside.

She walked back down to the base of the hill and began to search the area around it. She searched every side of the hill, but found nothing aside from the usual things found in the Wasteland. Dirt, ash, pieces of debris, and bullet shells. She was just about ready to give up and move on; to look elsewhere. That was when she saw it.

A metal door, built into the side of the hill itself. It looked like the ones she had seen back in Vault 101, but it was rusted and weathered from age. The switch to open it was also different from the ones she had seen in the vault. It was a small, numbered keypad. A code was needed to get in. She had no way of using the keypad to get inside. Without knowing the code, the thing was useless. A round piece of metal was protruding from the front of the door with two metal bars extending from either side of it that went into each end of the door. 'This must be the lock mechanism,' Suri thought.

She grabbed hold of the round metal piece and turned it. The rust and age made it nearly impossible for her to turn. She kept pushing, her knuckles turning white. It soon gave way and it turned with a quick movement. A loud, metallic click sounded from it and the bars on either side suddenly turned to point at an angle. The door slid open, disappeared into the frame and revealed a path leading downward. She leaned forward, looking down into it; a darkened staircase was before her. She made her way down the steps, the metal creaking under he boots. As she breathed it in, Suri noticed that the air wasn't stale in this place. It was clean and fresh.

She reached the bottom of the stairs and moved into a large, square room. The walls were plain and slate gray. There was a metal door on the left and right sides of the room. between the two doors, there was a clean, white table with two chairs on either end. A man was sitting on the left side, reading a book. What Suri noticed about him first were his clothes; a white shirt with long sleeves, dark pants and black shoes, and they were perfectly clean. Not a single speck of dirt or any signs of wear and tear. He stopped reading and looked up, turning his head to her, "Oh, hello. I wasn't expecting a visitor," he greeted warmly. He closed the book and set it down on the table. He motioned to the chair across from him, "Please. Sit."

She slowly walked forward and sat down at the table. She looked down at the book. It's completely yellow with a blue band going across the middle, Roadside Picnic was printed on the top in bold, black letters. He tapped it the book with his index finger.

"Have you read this book?"

"No, I haven't," Suri replied, shaking her head.

He smiles, "You should. It's quite good. I figure you might be staying a while. I'll have to let you read it once I'm finished."

"Well…I wasn't really planning to stay very long."

"That's a shame."

His eyes widened as something suddenly occurred to him, "Ah! How rude of me. I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Eli. Eli Hughes. And you are?"

"Suri…Ellison."

"That's a very lovely name."

"Thank you."

She looked across the table at Eli. The curiosity continuously picked at her mind. It was something she just could not overlook about this man. She bluntly asked him, "Eli, what exactly are you doing down here all by yourself?" He chuckled slightly, 'Well, I'm not down here by myself. My son and daughter are down here as well. They're sleeping in the next room." He motioned his head over to the metal door on the right side of the room.

"As for why I'm down here…well, this thing that's been brewing with China is certainly not going away any time soon. That much I'm sure of. The way I see it, things are going to get real ugly real soon. So, I figured I'd prepare ahead of time. I stocked this shelter up and brought my kids down here. The plan is to just sit tight and wait for any word on what's going on topside. We'll be just fine, I'm sure. No matter what happens. I figure that's why you're down here as well. It wasn't my original plan to have more than three, but we can make do, I'm sure."

He looked Suri up and down, examining her clothes, "I'm sorry of this is rude, Miss Ellison…it is 'Miss', right?" Suri nodded. Eli continued, "I just couldn't help but notice your…unique choice in clothing. Is this some youth trend I'm not aware of?"

Suri looked down, running her fingers along the collar of her sleeveless leather coat, "What? No, this is…" she paused. She looked back up to Eli.

"Eli…how long have you been waiting down here?"

She couldn't fathom how he wouldn't know what it's like topside, or even find her clothes out of the ordinary. He would've had to have gone outside eventually. Aside from that, there was not enough food to have fed him and his family for the last 200 years. Eli shrugged a little,

"Not too long. About a month now, I think?"

"A month?"

"That's right," he said with a smile.

Suri stared at him in silence. She couldn't make sense of anything he was saying. Nothing in his story added up. Her mind was telling her to leave. To get out of there as quick as she could. But her body wouldn't respond. She couldn't move. She remained there, staring at Eli. The silence in the room was growing ominous and loud, growing continuously until it started to give Suri a faint headache. Suddenly, Eli's head perked up a little and he looked to the door where his children were sleeping. He gave Suri an apologetic look, an unusual and asymmetrical expression, "Sorry, you'll have to excuse me. It sounds like my kids are calling me. I'd better see what they want. A father's work is never done," he chuckled heartily and stood up from the chair. He walked to the door, pushed the switch to open it and walked inside. The door closed harshly behind him, and Suri sat there alone in the same silence she was feeling before.

A few minutes passed and he still hadn't come back out. Suri stood up from her chair and walked to the door. She knocked on it softly and called out, "Eli?"

There was no answer.

"Eli?"

Silence still.

She looked to the side of the door. The switch to open it was much simpler than the one that was outside. No code, just a button. She pressed and the door opened quickly. What was inside the room was revealed to Suri, and it struck her in the deepest part of her stomach, like a knife, her insides twisting around its serrated edge. A gun was lying on the floor, between two bunk beds on either sides of the room. Three skeletons were lying on the floor. Two small ones, crude holes in the center of their heads. The last skeleton, lying in front of the two was bigger, with hole in its forehead as well. The gun was resting near its hand. A decaying white shirt with long sleeves and dark pants were hanging loosely on the bones. Suri turned away quickly, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

There was nothing more for her to see here. She made her way to the door. Looking down at the table where Eli sat when she first came in, Roadside Picnic still remained there, but it now looked older and dustier than before. Suri picked it up, gingerly dusting off the cover with her free hand. She looked back at the door, the book held tightly in her hand. She slipped the book into her bag and left the bunker, never looking back.