Chapter 7

The day was a long one. Analise traveled, using her pip boy's compass to help guide her. She had managed to get a better idea of the location from a Tenpenny resident, and aside from the occasional creature attack, she found herself growing in confidence as she traveled. The better she became at defending herself the closer she felt she was to finding her father. Soon she was positive there was nothing that would get in her way that she couldn't handle.

"Tear 'em apart!" shouted a voice, and before she even had time to respond a bullet bounced off her armor, stinging on impact and completely getting her by surprise. Looking over her shoulder she spotted at least 3 people closing in on her, all of them wearing armor that resembled the armor she'd purchased in Megaton. Raiders.

Turning her back to them she picked up her pace. Killing wild animals didn't bother her, but people... No, she would not do it again. Instead, as she ran she kept her eyes open for a place to hide. Overhead she could spot hills starting to form and she angled herself in that direction, hoping she'd be lucky enough to find a cave or something to hide in. Bullets rang out behind her but she did her best to make herself a difficult target, weaving and dodging. She ran till she reached the top of a hill, only to realize it wasn't a hill but a small cliff side with a strait drop about 15 feet down. There was a small ledge that protruded about halfway down, giving her about a foot wide foothold, and a small opening that she just might be able to fit herself in if she tried.

Stepping over the edge, she landed right on the ledge, and curling herself into a ball, she worked her way into the hole, reaching in front of her to one of the larger rocks and pulled it towards the entrance to cover its opening. Silently she waited and soon heard the raiders' voices as they peered over the edge of the cliff, looking for where she'd gone from there. After a few minutes their voices faded and she waited a little longer to ensure they had left.

Kicking out the rock in front of her, she hopped down from the ledge and continued on her way. The following hour was unproductive, and just as night began to fall she found herself in the DC area, taking note to her dismay that all easy paths to the GNR building were blocked off by walls of debris. Frowning she looked around, trying to find another way in. There had to be a way or that station would not play.

Her eyes fell on an old metro-way, and she smiled. Bingo. Turning on the light to her pip boy she made her way down the stone steps and through the entrance. Inside the tunnels were barely lit by her flashlight, and she could hear the sounds of things moving around inside. Quietly the proceeded, keeping a close eye on her compass to guide her. It wasn't even two minutes before she heard a loud hiss and looked up to see something running right to her with its arms stretched out, ready to grab her. Not hesitating she pulled out her handgun and fired at it. It took four bullets before it finally dropped at her feet. It was a ghoul but this one looked to be in far worse shape than the ones she'd seen so far. This must have been one of those feral ones she'd heard Roy Phillips mention a few days ago.

Keeping to the shadows, knowing she wouldn't have enough ammo for an entire swarm, she continued on, listening carefully and watching for signs of movement. Slowly she made her way through the first few tunnels until she heard very heavy footsteps and stopped in her tracks. A large creature, clad in armor walked ahead, guarding the tunnel with an assault rifle in his hands. Despair sank in. Now what?

Two or three more hisses, much like the one she'd heard before rang out ahead and she watched as to her amazement some feral ghouls made themselves known by launching themselves at the creature, who fought with them, eventually losing. While they were distracted by the struggle, however, Analise seized the opportunity and made a run through the tunnel, getting herself as far away from them as possible.

After passing a few blocked off tunnels, she finally managed to find one with an exit and followed it to the surface. There came a loud roar and she turned to see another creature like the one from the tunnel running right for her, his gun pointed at her. She gave out a shout and took off, running down the main road where she took a sharp left, thankful there was a crevice where the road had been destroyed, and she leaped down, ducking into the shadows and waited, hoping she hadn't been seen. Gunshots rang out, then silence. Soon she heard, "Okay where is that girl? She completely threw off our surprise attack!" At no other time had it become more apparent to Analise how different this life was from the vault than now when she was overjoyed to hear actual humans nearby.

She climbed out and held her hands up to show she meant now harm as three armed soldiers moved in on her. "Nice going, kid!" snarled one, a woman. "Next time be more careful. You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Sorry," she said.

"What are you doing out here anyways? A place like this isn't safe for an outsider."

"I'm looking for my father," she replied. "I'm trying to get to the GNR building. I think he went there."

"Well, we're headed there now. If you can keep yourself from getting killed you can come with. But stay out of our way so we can do our job, am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Her spirits lifted. With luck he'd be inside waiting for her.


"Penny for your thoughts?"

Burke looked over from the horizon to Allistair who took a seat in his favorite chair on the balcolny with a bottle of scotch in his hands. "Sir, I could have had that sent up to you," said Burke, lighting himself a cigar.

"Nonsense," chuckled Allistair. "While I admire your ability to get things done, I am capable of getting my own scotch once in a while." Burke smirked at him and turned his gaze back to the sunset. "You haven't been wandering the suites as you usually do," Allistair commented after pouring himself a drink.

"Afraid my mind's been a bit preoccupied," he answered.

"Ah, with that pretty little assistant of yours no doubt," Allistair said with a smirk. Burke refused to dignify that with a response. "Where did she vanish to?"

"Off to find her father," he answered. Most likely to her death... he thought to himself, having to restrain himself from frowning.

"Oh is that it? Interesting. Well best of luck to her then. Tis a pity she couldn't stay though. She had the look of one who could take care of our ghoul problem once and for all."

"Perhaps," said Burke. "But it's very unlikely we'll see her face around here again."

"You never know," said Allistair, taking another drink. "You can never predict women. Maybe if you get yourself one some day you'll know what I'm talking about." Burke immediately turned and headed for the balcony door. "Where are you off to?" But he did not answer, just simply left, leaving Allistair to stare at the door in surprise before returning to his scotch.


Analise stepped into the GNR building amazed she was in one piece. There had been a point on their journey there that she was convinced there would be no end to the supermutants that endlessly bore down on them. But when she'd heard that earth shattering cry along with shouts of, "Behemoth!" she thought she'd seen her life flash in front of her. If Sarah Lyons hadn't tossed her the assault rifle off the corpse of one of the supermutants, she would have been long dead.

But all that was over and now she was finally inside. "You'll want to talk to Three Dog," Sarah told her once inside. "He'll be able to help you." She pointed to his office up the stairs, and Analise headed up, practically running, most of her still expecting to see her father somewhere inside.

Three Dog stood near the top, speaking with one of the soldiers when he spotted her. Cutting his conversation short, he walked up to her. "The look on your face says it all," he said with a smug grin, reminding her of someone else who was probably enjoying a cigar atop the balcony of Tenpenny Tower... "You're wondering who the heck this guy is and why you should care. Well, prepare to be enlightened." He extended his hand and gave hers a firm shake. "I am Three Dog. Jockey of disks, and teller of truths. Lord and master over the greatest radio station ever to grace the Wastes, Galaxy News Radio." She decided not to tell him she'd never tuned in to his station before, not even for a minute. "And you," he continued, "I know who you are. Heard about you leavin' that vault and travelin' the unknown. Just like your dear old dad, hmm? Met him already."

She couldn't hold back the disappointed frown. "He's not still here is he..." she said mournfully.

"He was here before," he said, seeming not to care how large of a disappointment it was that he wasn't anymore. "But it just so happens that his location is know by yours truly. But if you want to know more you'll have to contribute to the Good Fight."

"Good fight?" she asked, trying to hold back the irritation in her voice. Why was something as simple as information no longer free? Was there no one capable of just answering a simply question?

"Imagine a picture, okay?" said Three Dog. "A picture of the Capital Wasteland. All that brick and rock. A whole lot of nothing, right? There's people out there trying to just barely make it by from day to day. Fighting to stay alive and make something of what they got. But then you got all kinds of shit. Slavers, supermutants, raiders... They all want a slice of the pie too and aim to take it by force."

"Then they can fight back."

"They can't, not against those kinds of enemies. They just run away and hide, or they stay and die. It just ain't right. So that's where I enter the picture. I fight the Good Fight with GNR as my gun. The sound of truth goes out across Capital Wasteland. Hell, someone's gotta counter that bullshit on the Enclave station."

"I understand," said Analise, close to tears. "But if you know anything about my father, please just tell me. I need to find him!"

"He was here. We had a great conversation. He's a real stand-up guy. But if you want to know more you'll have to contribute."

"Goddammit!" she shouted, snapping and kicking a wall. "You're just like that sadistic pig, Moriarty! You have all this big talk about 'fighting the Good Fight' to help humanity, but when it comes to actually helping humanity you won't do it unless you can benefit from it somehow!"

"Excuse me?" he said, folding his arms, clearly annoyed at the tantrum she was throwing.

"Is there a problem, Three Dog?" asked one of the soldiers, standing in the doorway with his gun in hand.

"No," answered Three Dog. "Our guest was just leaving." Analise wanted to kick herself. Without that information she would never find her father, and here she had just blown her only way of getting it. "She's off to Rivet City to talk to Doctor Li. I believe she'll have the information you're looking for." Analise's heart lifted.

"Thank you."


Much to her surprise, she was granted lodgings for the night, even after her little display in front of Three Dog. She had a feeling none of them felt right about sending her back out into the Wastes at night when it was clear she was still learning her way around a gun, let alone how to deal with the greater dangers out there. The place wasn't as nice are her room at Tenpenny, but she enjoyed this one more considering she didn't have to earn it with innocent blood.

As she lay herself down she heard Sarah Lyons call up to Three Dog. "I know you love the sound of your own voice, but could you please play some music for once?" There was some scattered chuckles.

"What's your pleasure?" called down Three Dog.

"Something peaceful! We've just been fighting a battle, don't want to really listen to more talk of war tonight."

"How about a love song for the lady then?" chuckled Three Dog, and soon piano music began to play.

My love, leave yourself behind... Beat inside me... Leave you blind...

Analise sat up and looked to Sarah. "I know this song," she said.

"I've never heard it," Sarah answered with a shrug.

"It was recorded nearly a decade ago," said Three Dog, making his way down to them. "I figured it would do the Wastes some to listen to the art of another survivor. Maybe one day we'll have radio stations bombarded with the latest hits."

"Who is this?" asked Analise.

"Rebeca Jones. Lovely ain't it? Shame she didn't record more before her death."

"What happened to her?"

"No one really knows why, but she took her own life. Hung herself. Damn shame too. The Wastes could have benefited from talent like that."

Analise frowned and laid back down. As the song soothed her to sleep, she thought of Burke sitting alone in his suite with his piano, enjoying himself in serene solitude.