Chapter 5: Three Dog, Muties, and Ghouls oh my!

When I finally came to, I found myself indoors lying on an old mattress. There was a round table at the foot of the mattress that had a working lamp sitting on top of it. I sat myself up and cringed at the pain moving around caused.

"Easy kid, don't move around too much." I heard someone say from behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw a man sitting in a chair with a Sniper Rifle in his hands.

"Where am I?" I asked him.

"You're inside the Washington Monument, on the top floor. You're lucky you signaled us when you did. You were in pretty bad shape when they brought you to me." He explained. "Oh, forgive my manners. My name is William; I'm the medic here at the monument."

He looked down at his rifle and caressed it, "I'm also not a bad shot with this sniper rifle either." He added.

My head throbbed with such an intense pounding that I could barely focus my vision or hearing. I looked over at my shoulder and noticed that the wound had been patched up properly. "I suppose I have you to thank for this?" I asked sarcastically.

William chuckled, "Yes, and you're welcome. Now, do you mind telling me just who you are and what you were doing in a dangerous place like this?"

I placed a hand on my forehead and tried to piece everything together. "I was sent by a man named Three Dog to replace the relay dish here at the monument. It seems I was ill prepared for the high level of danger this area presents." I explained.

"Three Dog finally got somebody to replace that damn thing, huh? He must've had something you really want for you to take on such a difficult task." was his response.

I let loose a small sigh, "He knows where my father is. I've been looking for him for about three weeks now, and it seems like I'm always one step behind him." I said while looking at the floor.

William shifted in his chair, "I'm sorry to hear about that. I'm amazed that a young kid like you managed to make it even this far." he commented.

I grinned at his comment, "Yeah, I get that a lot." I retorted.

I moved my arm around to keep it from becoming too stiff. "Do you think I'll still be able to use my Assault Rifle properly?" I asked William.

William shook his head, "I wouldn't recommend it. Might cause the stitches to open up and slow the healing process. I would suggest that you stick with one handed weapons for now." was his advice.

"Good thing my pistol is incredibly reliable." I said in a sarcastic tone, which got a slight chuckle from William.

I lifted my Pip Boy to check the time. Three o' clock in the afternoon. I must've been out for a good six or so hours. I knew that I was in no condition to be sneaking through a museum to try and find some relay dish, but I had to get moving as soon as I could. Every second that I sat around meant that my dad got farther and farther away from me.

I got myself to my feet, but my legs were so weak that I nearly fell over when I did. I leaned up against the wall and grasped on to my stomach. I started feeling dizzy again and felt like I was going to vomit. William came to my aid and placed a hand on my back.

"Just what exactly do you think you're doing? There's no way you'll survive if you go in there like this." he stated.

I swallowed my pain and straightened my posture, "I don't have a choice." was all I said to him in response.

He walked back over to where he had been sitting and pulled a small syringe from a med pack. "Here, let me give you a shot of Med-X to give you more energy and loosen your limbs up a bit." he then lifted the sleeve of my armor and shot the medicine in to me.

It felt warm as it released in to my system, and almost immediately I felt refreshed and re-energized.

"The effects don't last forever. I'd say you have about two hours to complete your task before the effects wear off." he warned.

"Also," he started, "We've spotted more Super Mutants patrolling between here and the museum. I'll stay up here and pick off any that I see to make your journey that much easier. Once you're inside, though, it's all up to you."

I held my hand out and shook his, "Try not to hit me." I said jokingly, and he just laughed.

I entered in to the elevator at the center of the room and pressed the button to take me down. The rickety elevator made a few screeching noises as it started up, and then began its slow descent. When I stepped out of the elevator at the bottom I had to cover my eyes from the shining sun.

There were two Brotherhood members standing guard near the gate. "Hey stranger, you heading out?" one of them asked me, and I nodded in response.

I glanced over my shoulder and looked up near the top of the monument where I had descended from. I could barely make out someone leaning over the opening with his Sniper Rifle at the ready.

I stepped outside the boundaries of the gate, and it soon closed behind me. I shook my hands and trotted in place for a few moments to limber up. It was pretty much a straight shot to the museum, and so far I hadn't seen any mutants.

"Let's see just how good of a shot you are William." I said to myself. I drew my pistol so I would have some way to defend myself if William's aim proved less than satisfactory.

I exhaled deeply one last time, then darted off towards my destination. The first mutant spotted me about a hundred feet from the monument gate and screamed aloud as I ran past. Lucky for me it had terrible aim with the Hunting Rifle that it wielded, so I was able to dodge the shots with ease. A shot rang out from behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the mutant's scalp get blown off.

The next mutant jumped out as I reached the halfway point of my mad dash to the museum. "You no outrun me human!" it roared aloud.

I fired off a few potshots at the brute while I was running and managed to hit it a few times in the chest. All that really did was piss it off even more. Another shot rang out over the air and got the mutant right in the throat. It clasped its neck and spat out a good amount of blood as it toppled to the ground.

I thought I was home free as there were no other mutants in sight, but as I ran past a broken down wall, I felt something strike me in the back. I threw my hands out to break my fall, then flipped on to my back to see what had struck me down.

A Super Mutant was standing behind me; it had a giant plank of wood in its hands. It laughed deeply and advanced on me while repeatedly slamming the plank in to the palm of its hand. It lifted the plank high above its head and screamed at me.

Its face suddenly erupted in to a cloud of red mist, and it dropped the plank and fell backwards.

I got myself to my feet, and to my surprise, the blow to my back hadn't really done all that much damage. It must have been the Med-X William had administered to me before I left.

I brushed some of the bits of mutie flesh off of my face and armor, then started towards the museum once again. I reached the museum and took a deep breath from all the running I had done. The museum looked surprisingly intact even though most of the surrounding buildings were scorched and broken down.

I grabbed on to the handle of one of the double doors and slowly pulled it open. Just like the subway tunnels I had come through, there wasn't much light within the museum. The air inside was thick with dust, and it was in pretty bad condition. I quietly closed the door behind me and readied my pistol once again.

This time around I opted not to use the light on my Pip Boy to help find my way. I had a feeling that there were probably Super Mutants in here as well. I could make out a set of stairs to my immediate left, and to my front there was a broken balcony overlooking the floor I was on. There was also an old model plane on the floor to my right, and there was other random debris scattered about.

Up on the second floor there was a dim light coming through a glass window. I assumed this must have been some sort of maintenance room or something. I cautiously crept up the stairs and rounded the corner in to the room I had seen. Inside I found a small safe embedded in the wall, a computer terminal, and a small desk with a few filing cabinets nearby.

The safe had a combination lock as well as a slot for a keyhole. I took a few bobby pins out of my pack and tinkered around with unlocking it. After breaking a few of them, I managed to unlock the safe and took the 100 caps and the single clip of 10 mm ammo inside.

I scoured through the desk and file cabinets for any kind of useful items, but didn't find much. I didn't even bother with the computer terminal, I was so illiterate when it came to that kind of crap. You would think with my dad being a scientist and all that I would have the knowledge on how to work computers, but it's just something I never really got in to.

The next area I ventured in to was an audio tour through a model of a Vault. It depressed me a little to be in such a familiar looking place and reminded me of all the friends I had back in Vault 101. Amata, Christine, Paul, and even though we had our differences at first, Butch and I had come to a mutual agreement when I saved his mother from Radroaches.

Thankfully, the tour wasn't very long, and before I knew it I had made my way to the Western Wing of the museum. I saw a poster for the Virgo II Lunar Lander, and I saw the relay dish attached to it. Below the poster was an arrow pointing to the right, and when I glanced in the direction I needed to go, I saw only a pile of rubble that went all the way up to the ceiling.

"Great." I mumbled to myself. It seemed as if I would have to take a detour through a different part of the museum to get to the lander.

I hugged the walls as I made my way further in to the museum, and was surprised that I hadn't met any resistance thus far. It took me about forty or so minutes of spelunking to find my back to the Lunar Lander. When I saw the actual size of the relay dish I was going to have to carry back to the monument I became a little distraught. It was about three feet in diameter, and it would be no easy task carrying it that far.

I climbed up to where the relay dish was and loosened it to the point where I could pull it out. As I tried to remove it by pulling on it, I lost my footing and started to fall. Instinctively I reached out and grabbed on to the dish and was hanging about fifteen or so feet above the floor. I heard creaking noises coming from the lander as the dish was pulled loose, and without warning I soon found myself falling to the floor.

I let loose a loud grunt as I hit the tile floor, and rolled to the side when I realized that the relay dish wasn't far behind. It made a loud clang when it hit, which couldn't be good.

I heard muffled yells coming from deep within the museum, and knew I would have to act fast. I looked the dish over and made sure that there was no serious damage that would prevent it from working. There were a few scrapes, but it was still intact and useable.

The footsteps were drawing closer now, so I picked the dish up off the ground; which was surprisingly lighter than I would have thought. I sprinted towards an open doorway along the wall and gently closed it behind me just as I heard a few Super Mutants pour in to the room I had just been in.

I carried the dish at my side as I slowly walked down the hall I had just entered in to. I could hear the mutants yelling at each other just behind me, and I prayed that it would be a while before they decided to spread out and search. As I rounded a corner, I heard the door I had come through swing open and slam against the wall.

"You look here!" I heard a mutant order.

I quickened my pace as I ran down the long hallway and could see another door a few yards ahead. I kicked it open as I approached it and found myself in a large, dome shaped room that had some sort of holographic projector sitting in the middle.

I heard a door break down and looked up to the second floor of the room to see two Super Mutants run in. They started shooting as soon as they saw me, but I was already running towards the open door on the opposite side of the room. The other Super Mutants that had been following me through the hallway at my back came in to the room as I exited it. I found myself back in the East Wing of the museum and knew that I still had a ways to go before I was home free.

Bullets penetrated the walls nearby as I continued to run for my life. After running and dodging bullets for about fifteen more minutes, I could feel myself becoming extremely fatigued. The Med-X must be wearing off. I busted through another set of double doors and could see the exit just ahead.

A Super Mutant Master stood on the balcony I had seen when I first entered the museum, and in his hands he carried what looked like some sort of Missile Launcher.

"If I live through this I am going to kill Three Dog!" I shouted aloud as I sprinted off towards the exit.

I heard the loud boom of the Super Mutant Master firing off a missile at me, and the missile made a loud hissing noise as it soared through the air. I used my free arm and aimed my pistol at the door and fired off a single shot. The door was flung open and I used my remaining energy to jump through the exit.

The missile made contact with the ground a ways behind me, but it was enough to send me flying forward. I slammed in to the ground with amazing force and slid across the dirt for about thirty feet. Large chunks of debris flew around me as I lay there, but luckily none of it struck me.

A large cloud of smoke had formed around the entrance to the museum, and when it had finally cleared there was a giant pile of rubble that had fallen over the doorway. All I could do was sit there for a while, my body was bruised and battered, and it would be near impossible to trek back to the monument while carrying a thirty-five pound relay dish.

I sat there for a good twenty minutes before I finally decided to make the journey back. I found the dish lying on the ground a ways away from where I had landed, and it still hadn't sustained any serious damage, which to me was a miracle. I wrapped my arms around it and limped off towards the monument.