Chapter 4: Three Dog, Muties, and Ghouls oh my!
"So, whats your name kid?" the man who was leading me asked.
"Names Jason." I replied.
"Im Sergeant Wilks, its nice to meet you." He said as he extended his hand to me. I gladly took the kind gesture and shook his hand as we walked up a flight of stairs.
When we reached the blue steel door at the top of the stairs, Wilks opened it for me, "The man you want to talk to is just in there. A word of caution though, hes a little out there, and he probably wont give you what you want unless you do him a favor. So be prepared for some ridiculous request alright?" he told me.
I simply nodded and thanked him, then walked through the door. As I stepped in to the room I could hear music playing in the background, and I could make out the feint sound of someone laughing nearby.
"And remember, dont feed the Yao Guai! Thanks for listening children. This is Three Dog, and Im here for you! And now, lets change the mood with some music!" I heard someone shouting from a room close to me.
I slid open the door to a room which had light emanating from it, and was greeted by the sight of a black man sitting at a desk with a microphone close to his mouth and headphones over his ears. He had short black hair which was mostly covered by a bandana, and he also wore large black shades that made it impossible to see his eyes. He had a short goatee and wore clothing that looked like it had once belonged to a biker. I assumed him to be this Three Dog everyone had been talking about.
He took the headphones off of his head and set them on the desk, then leaned back in his chair and lit a cigar. I cleared my throat to get his attention.
He spun around in his chair to face me, and he had a big grin on his face. "Well, what do we have here? They told me that someone was coming to see me, I just didnt expect them to send a kid." He then stood up and walked over to me, "Names Three Dog, lord and master of all I survey! And what, might I ask, has brought you here to my humble abode?" He asked me.
"My name is Jason, and I was told that you might have some information regarding the whereabouts of my father." I told him.
He took a puff of his cigar, "I might have the information you seek, that is if you tell me his name and maybe even what he looks like." He pointed out.
"Oh, umm, his name is James. Hes about 44 years old, has short, gray hair, blue eyes, a shaggy looking beard. Wears a blue jumpsuit with the number 101 on the back." I told him every detail possible.
Three Dog stroked his beard for a moment, "Ah yes, I remember now. James was a cool cat, came to me seeking information about something called Project Purity or something. Asked me if I wanted to help him out. He started talking a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo that I honestly couldnt follow." He explained.
"Please, if you know anything that can help me find my dad, I would greatly appreciate it!" I begged.
"Whoa, calm down kid. I know where your dad is..." he then trailed off.
This is what I was hoping to avoid. As Sergeant Wilks had said, Three Dog was probably contemplating some task that he could put me to in return for the information.
"Tell you what kid. You do me one tiny little favor and Ill tell you where your dad is. You scratch my back, and Ill scratch yours." He said.
I let loose a great sigh and shook my head, "Fine, just tell me what you want me to do so I can get the info I need." I replied.
Three Dog grinned once again and rubbed his hands together. "Well alright kid, heres what I need you to do for me. GNR, its my baby. I take care of it, I nurture it, I feed it. Its basically everything to me. These Brotherhood guys, theyre great, they help me fight the good fight. And now its time for you to assist us in fighting this fight." He started.
He went back to his chair and sat down, then took yet another puff of his cigar, and blew a ring of smoke outwards. "Here's the deal. I do what I can to spread the news across the entire wasteland. And to do so, Ive got a satellite relay set up on top of the Washington Monument that helps me give the news to all. Thing is, some Super Mutant thought it would be funny to shoot the shiny circular disc on top of the monument and turned my relay dish in to swiss cheese." He continued.
"Will you be getting to the point sometime soon?" I said, I was getting a little impatient with this guy.
"You want to find your dad, and I need my relay dish replaced. You go to the Museum of Technology in the DC ruins. Inside you'll find an old Lunar Lander that has a relay dish on it that is the perfect replacement for the one that got destroyed. You take the dish to the top of the monument and replace it, and voila, I can broadcast to anyone and everyone again." He explained.
"Let me guess. This museum is probably swarming with enemies right?" I asked him.
"Listen kid, Im not gonna lie to you. This isnt gonna be easy, but if you do this you wont only be helping me, but youll be helping move along the good fight. If you want, I can give you access to my weapons cache to help you in your little quest." He replied.
I just stood there thinking about whether or not helping this bozo was worth the information Id be getting. For all I know he could be lying through his teeth about knowing where my dad is. In the end I figured if this meant helping the people of the wastes, Id be willing to do it.
"Alright Three Dog, you win, Ill do it. And I want access to that weapons cache you mentioned." I demanded.
"Fantastic to hear kid. Here's the key to the cache, you'll find it in the main room just up the stairs. If you want, there's an old bed up there as well if you need some rest before you head out. He then handed me the key, Good luck kid." Was all he said.
"Yeah, thanks." I retorted.
I left Three Dog to his business and headed upstairs to find that cache he mentioned. I found an old footlocker against the wall and placed the key inside the keyhole. With a quick turn, the footlocker popped open, revealing the goodies inside. I found a few grenades and a couple frag mines inside, along with a little more ammo and even a few medical supplies.
I also found the bed Three Dog had mentioned, and figured I should catch a few winks before I headed out. All in all I slept about four hours, and it was around 6 o clock in the morning when I started to get ready to leave.
I brought the map up on my Pip Boy and marked the Museum of Technology on my compass. It would be a long and no doubt treacherous journey that led through a couple of abandoned subway tunnels.
I holstered my pistol, placed my Assault Rifle over my shoulder, and secured my bag to my back. I exited GNR from the top floor, and when I opened the door to go out I found myself looking down on a couple of blown out floors of the building which lead down to a small bridge which crossed over the street below. The streets were riddled with old, broken down cars that hadn't been used for decades. It was a rather depressing sight.
I carefully climbed down to the bottom and jumped on to the dirt below when I was close enough. As I trudged along, I was startled by a sudden loud hissing.
I immediately took cover behind the nearest car wreckage I could find and drew my pistol. The hissing had turned in to a low growling now, and I could hear the shuffling of slow, dragging feet.
I cautiously peeked over the hood of the vehicle to see what had given me such a fright. My heart seemed to rise up in to my throat when my eyes beheld three nasty looking creatures sniffing the air just feet away from me. These were Feral Ghouls; mindless zombies that were out for one flesh.
I ducked back behind the car and kissed the top of my pistol. I would have to be quick in disposing of them, or Id be eaten alive. I readied my pistol, and then sprang in to action. I quickly jumped up and fired off a few rounds which got one of the Ghouls right in the head, and got another in the chest and shoulder. The two survivors reared their heads back and screeched aloud, then darted towards me.
"Fuck me!" I shouted as I started to backpedal away from them. I unloaded a few more rounds and managed to cause another ghoul to trip over itself. It was now down to a one on one fight, and I was sure I had it.
The last one was just inches away from me when I pulled the trigger to blow its brains out. The only thing that happened though was my pistol making a loud clicking noise, and me getting head butted by the Ghoul.
I hit the ground like a sack of bricks, and had the wind knocked out of me. I struggled to catch my breath when the Feral Ghoul grabbed on to my arm and threw me to the side. It hissed and growled as it continued the onslaught.
The fifth time it ran up to me I managed to block its attack and pushed it away from me. It staggered back and shrieked. I brought my Assault Rifle up and aimed right in to its gaping maw.
"Fuck you too." I said calmly, then pulled the trigger and tore through the Ghouls head, blowing the top of its skull off. The Ghoul let loose a blood choked gurgle, and then fell to the cold asphalt.
I felt a sudden stinging in my left arm, and brought it up to check the damage. The Ghoul had left a rather nasty set of scratches on my forearm that would probably become infected if I didn't treat it as soon as possible.
I went over and sat myself up against one of the wrecked vehicles, then rummaged through my pack for the proper medical supplies. I brought out a bottle of fresh water, a Stimpak, and a few cloth bandages. I twisted the cap off of the water and held my arm out in front of me. I cringed in pain as I poured the water over the wound. I then grabbed the Stimpak and injected it near the wound to help clean and heal the damaged area. Lastly, I took some of the bandages and wrapped them around my forearm to seal the deal.
I moved my fingers around a bit to make sure I still had good enough use of my hand and arm. It made me a little sore, but it was nothing serious. I pulled my Leather Armor up and noticed a big blue mark right in the middle of my stomach. Thats gonna take a while to heal. I said to myself, then let my armor fall back down.
I got myself to my feet and walked over and picked my pistol up off the ground. Useless piece of shit. I mumbled as I looked it over to find out what had gone wrong. I found out that the gun had jammed, and after tinkering with it for a bit, I managed to fix it, and placed it back in its holster.
I crossed the bridge, then headed down a flight of stairs that led to the street below. My compass pointed towards an old rusted door that led to the subway tunnels below. I opened the door and entered the dark, eerie underground. It was so dark that I had to turn the light on my Pip Boy on so I could see where I was going. I made sure to sneak through the tunnels as quietly as I could, but it didnt matter because there was little resistance.
I saw sunlight shining through a metal gate just up ahead and knew that was my exit. I crept up to the gate, opened it up, and made my way back in to the wastes. A cool breeze blew across my face as I stepped back outside, and little wisps of dust blew over the surface of the ground.
I walked up the broken down escalator at my front and surveyed the area I had entered. There were plenty of run down and broken buildings scattered about. The most noticeable landmarks were the surprisingly still intact Washington Monument to my left, and the Museum of History to the North West. There were large trenches that had been dug out of the ground, and makeshift wooden bridges that made it easier to cross over the tops.
After taking only a few more steps, the sound of a gun being fired rang out across the air, and I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder. I staggered forward and noticed the blood dripping from the gaping bullet wound in my shoulder. I turned around and was greeted by the sight of a small group of Super Mutants yelling and screaming at me.
"God damn it!" I cursed, then ran towards some sand bags that were lying around as bullets soared past me.
"Come out human!" one of the overgrown brutes yelled out.
"Why don't you come and get me!" I shouted in response.
I then pulled a frag mine out of my pack and placed it on the ground just next to me, and swept some sand over it to help conceal it. There were more sandbags in front of me, so I quickly shuffled over to them and crawled over without being seen.
"You, go find him!" I heard a mutant order to another.
I admit I had a slight smirk on my face when I heard the explosion from the frag mine being triggered by the stray mutant.
The other two Super Mutants roared aloud in dismay at what had happened.
"We find you human!" one shouted, then fired off a few random shots from its Assault Rifle.
I pulled my pistol from its holster and leaned over the sandbags. I got one of them right in the jaw after a few well placed shots, then hid again when the bullets started to fly.
"Found you!" a mutant shouted. After it said this, I could hear their big, lumbering feet coming closer.
I looked around to see if there was any more cover close by, but I couldn't see any. I guess now it just came down to whether or not I could fire quickly and accurately enough to take both remaining mutants down before they killed me.
Right as I was about to go out guns blazing, I heard two gunshots ring out over the furious screams of the mutants, and then all went silent. I stood up and saw the two Super Mutants just standing there. After a few seconds, their knees buckled, and they fell limp. Standing just a few feet behind them was that same Mysterious Stranger I had run in to the night before.
He just stood there for a few moments, then holstered his Magnum and turned to leave.
"Wait!" I shouted after him while holding my hand out.
The man stopped walking and stood facing away from me.
"Who are you, and why are you helping me?" I asked him.
There was an awkward silence between us, and he gave no response.
"Answer me!" I said in a raised voice.
He glanced over his shoulder, lifted his hand, and tipped his Fedora at me. When I tried to chase after him, he rounded a building, and when I turned after him, he was gone.
The stinging sensation of the wound I had received suddenly came back to me. It was a searing burn that made me cringe and clench my teeth. I quickly pulled a Stimpak from my pack and jammed it in to my shoulder. I screamed aloud as the medicine spread throughout my system to start the healing process. I clenched my fists and slammed them in to the wall I was leaning against.
I didn't have much else to properly treat a wound like this with. All I could do was wrap the wound in cloth and try and find whatever help I could.
Maybe there are people over at the Washington Monument that could help me. I figure if its where Three Dogs news was really broadcasted from, it had to be guarded by the Brotherhood of Steel or someone who could help.
I made the slow trek towards the Monument, and didn't receive the kind of warm welcome I thought I would. There were more Super Mutants patrolling the area just in front of the Monument, which was surrounded by a tall, concrete wall with a giant metal gate at the front.
Well this is just fantastic. I said under my breath.
There was no way in hell that I would last another skirmish with any of the wastelands many hostile creatures.
Why couldn't that guy stay around long enough to kill these things? I thought to myself.
I had already lost a good deal of blood, and if I didn't get help soon, I would probably pass out. I hid behind a low concrete wall and contemplated how I was to continue.
I wouldn't have to do much thinking, though, because the gates to the Monument suddenly shifted open, and two Brotherhood of Steel soldiers wielding Mini-Guns came barging out. The Super Mutants had almost no time to react and most of them were torn to pieces as they scrambled about trying to take cover. I lifted my Assault Rifle and took out one of the mutants that hid where I could still see it.
I screamed in pain once more as the rifle kicked against my wounded shoulder. My arm suddenly went numb, and I could no longer grip my weapon. The battle between the Brotherhood and the Super Mutants didnt last much longer, and when it was over, I came out from behind my cover and signaled to the others.
"Help! Ive been shot and I need your help!" I shouted.
One of the soldiers ran over to assist me. As he approached me, my vision started to get blurry, and I could feel myself fading in and out of consciousness. I fell to my knees, then fell flat on my face and passed out.