The approach to Cave Entrance was clear of Deathclaws. They had brought some more supplies to leave. They had found and upgraded the cavern long months before the Project activation. Since it now had lighting, a small heater, a cooking appliance, and mattresses it was fairly comfortable. What made it special was it was hidden, not known to anyone but the partners. It was a safe haven for them.
"Wow.", Calli said as she walked down the ramp and inspected the gate. "This is a surprise! This is great Hawk, did you do all this while I was gone?" He smiled at her.
"Yes, to make it easier to get in and out. Do you like it?", he asked.
"Oh, yes, I do. This is so much better. You can't even tell from the outside. This must've taken a lot of work. I thought you were going to the Settlement.", she said.
"I did, but I didn't stay long. I wanted to get this done. Come on now, let's get something to eat and get some sleep. There's something I want to show you in the morning."
"Something else?", Calli asked, excited. "Oh, tell me what is it? Have you done something else?" She looked around the cavern. He shook his head.
"Don't be so impatient now. You'll see in the morning." Another surprise! Calli was so excited she could hardly sleep.
They rose early as usual. While Calli took care of personal business he emptied her pack and reloaded it. He then went to take care of his business while she fixed some breakfast. After breakfast he loaded his own pack while she cleaned up.
Calli was wearing her vault uniform and Hawk his sea man's garb. They felt safe in the cavern.
"Come on.", he said, picking up his pack. Calli picked up hers and hoisted it experimentally.
"Did you repack this?", she asked Hawk curiously.
"Yes, I did. Do you want to see the surprise now?" She raised an eyebrow at him. He sure was acting mysterious.
"Okay.", she said and pulled the pack over her shoulders. Hawk led the way down the tunnel.
Hawk walked in silence, ignoring Calli's childish pestering. They came to the tunnel's mouth and stopped. Hawk took off his pack and took out her set of radiation resistant armor and handed it to her. Astonished, she took the armor.
"Put it on.", he commanded. She started to object that it was hot and there weren't any enemies here, but this was Hawk's show. She took off her uniform and put it on. He handed her a large radiation suit. She pulled it on over the suit. He had also donned his. He stuffed their clothing in his pack.
"Can you see that cave over there?", he asked, pointing across the Valley of Death.
"Barely.", she said cautiously.
"That's where we're going."
"But the radiation out there is lethal!", she exclaimed.
"Yes, so it's a good thing you're as resistant as I am. Even so you'd better take these.", and he held out 3 radaway and 3 rad-x, the maximum safe dosage for Calli. He swallowed his own pills and snapped down his helmet. Calli took the pills and fastened her helmet in place. A quick check of her Pip-boy assured her the radiation levels were at zero. She didn't expect that to last long.
Hawk started across the Valley at a quick walk, making Calli trot to keep up with him. The valley was hot, dry and barren. Dust swirled around their feet and settled on their suits. Even though the battle armor had environmental controls built in after an hour Calli was beginning to feel the heat and was glad to approaching the cave entrance.
The tunnel was cool and welcoming after the arid desert. Hawk continued on at the same pace. Calli realized she couldn't remove the helmet or the suit now, the dust alone would have enough radiation to kill her on top of the exposure already registering on the Pip-boy. Why hadn't they come through the tunnel they had used the first time, where she could hear the water rushing past the wall? She couldn't go back this way for several days! What could Hawk possibly be thinking? And what was that noise echoing in the tunnel?
Hawk had stopped in the tunnel mouth. She came up beside him and looked out into the hidden valley.
The waterfall arched out into the land, a large rainbow forming in its falling mist, the pool beckoning. The small river ran off into the land.
Calli stared for a moment, stunned.
"Hawk!", she screamed in delight, her voice echoing in their headsets. "Did you do this? It's wonderful! Oh, Hawk, it's so beautiful!" She flung herself on the big mutant, hugging him, dancing in her delight. He laughed, grabbing her hand, and they rushed to the waterfall. She laughed and danced, squealing with delight as they washed the dust from their suits and packs.
Calli shed her suits, flinging them onto the bank beside the clean packs, and dove into the pool. Hawk followed her. Laughing and splashing they played in the pool until they tired of the game.
"I have something else to show you", he said as they left the pool.
"Another surprise? Oh, Hawk, I don't know what to say. You're just wonderful!", she exclaimed, hugging him.
He grinned."We better get dressed first though. We're gonna burn out here in this sun in just our underwear." Calli rubbed her bare arms.
"Yeah, you're right. Did you bring my vault uniform?"
"Of course, it's in my pack. Let's get dressed and have some lunch, then I'll show you my other surprise." Calli grinned happily. Gathering their suits and packs they headed to the tunnel.
It was still before noon but would soon be too hot to be out in the sun.
"What I want to show you is beside the river. ", Hawk said. "See how it goes off that way? Well, if we just cut across there, we can get to the bend in about 40 min." Calli didn't pester Hawk this time. She was looking forward to his next surprise. She couldn't imagine what it could be.
Calli walked around the line of square blocks, studying them.
"Oh, Hawk", she choked. "It's a foundation."
"Look," he said eagerly. "I know it's not done, but see, here's the main room, here's the bathroom and kitchen, and here's a bedroom for you and one for me, see mine's bigger and…." He broke off as he noticed Calli was crying. "Don't you like it?", he asked.
"Oh, Hawk,", she choked with the intensity of her emotion. "a house. In our own valley where no one will shoot at us or look at us like we're freaks. Our own home. Our home!"
Calli stretched out on her blanket in the coolness of the tunnel. Hawk had explained to her about the water filled tunnel that fed the river. He was a little embarrassed at the miscalculation, but Calli didn't seem to notice.
"How long do you think we have to stay here before we can go back?", she asked, turning onto her stomach to address him. She continued, "I can't take any more radaway until at least tomorrow and my rads are still near fatal."
"I know, it took me 3 days to de-rad after I left the first time. Still, I was sick too so maybe that was why it took so long."
"You were?", she asked, suddenly concerned. "Hawk, we all were! All of us that were caught in the GECK. Just because you're no longer old human do you think you weren't affected? What were your symptoms?"
"I had a bad headache and my muscles ached like I was hit with a super sledge. I slept for two days here in the tunnel. I felt fine when I woke up but then I didn't have time to do much on the foundation."
Calli studied him thoughtfully. "You don't look like you've changed any, but then neither does Sarah. Maybe it affects everyone differently. I guess we just have to wait and see. So, we'll be here for 3 days anyway then. How much supplies did you bring?"
"Enough food for about a week. We have plenty of clean fresh water.", he grinned.
"Then what say we explore this place? See if we can find the other side?"
"We'll start this evening after it cools off.", he agreed. They decided to follow the river to see where it went.
It took nearly nine hours to follow the small river as it wound its way through the valley to the other side, where it disappeared into a tunnel in the enclosing wall. Like Calli it didn't seem to want to take a straight path. The partners strode into the tunnel without hesitation. It was very much like the tunnels cut in the wall on the other side, round and large and unnaturally smooth, sloping gently downward.
Calli snapped on her Pip-boy light and Hawk pulled out his light. It wasn't easy trying to walk along the edge of the river but it was too deep in the middle to walk and too far to swim. They finally came out into a large cavern. The water was pouring over a small ledge into a body of water in a dark cavern. With their limited light they couldn't tell how large the cavern was but at least there was a slight ledge along the edge. Hawk and Calli sat down on the ledge with a feeling of relief.
"Well, this is interesting. I wonder how big this lake is?", Calli asked, reaching down with a foot. She couldn't feel the bottom. Hawk took her arm.
"Let's not try to find out, okay?", he said.
"Oh, okay. Did you bring any food?", she asked eagerly.
Hawk laughed. "You sure think about food a lot.", he teased, easing off his pack so he didn't lose it in the water.
"I need a lot of calories to keep up with you.", she responded primly.
The trip back through the tunnel was even more difficult as they were going against the current. As they exited the tunnel they noticed that the sun was spreading it's warm light over the land. Calli checked her time. It was just after 9 am.
"I'm pretty tired.", she said. "We can't make it back across the valley before the sun gets too hot. I noticed a smaller tunnel down to our left about a quarter mile. How about we get some sleep there?" Hawk agreed.
It only took 15 minutes to make it to the smaller tunnel. A quick check didn't show any signs of life. It was cool in the depths of the tunnel so they snuggled into his blanket and were soon fast asleep.
Calli stirred as the mid afternoon sun crept into the tunnel turning the dust motes into sparkles dancing on the still warm air. Hawk still snored beside her. She watched for a while enjoying the quiet and solitude before slipping back into a peaceful slumber. They didn't stir until early evening.
It took almost eight hours to make the trip back across the valley from tunnel to tunnel. It didn't take as long since they travelled straight this time instead of following the windings of the river. Calli checked the distance on her Pip-boy. At just over 24 miles, it was a huge valley.
They still had another day to de-rad before they could go back. Calli and Hawk surveyed the area around the foundation. Calli was shaking her head at Hawk.
"Listen, we simply can't carry in all the materials we're going to need. And this place won't do us any good if it stays barren like this. Now that there's water we need plants in here. We need a better way to get things in.", she pointed out.
Hawk agreed. "I've been thinking about that.", he said. "We can carry in enough material to build a small cart. If it's enclosed it'll keep the dust from it, but it would have to be radiation proof."
Calli considered this. "I think we can fix that. We're going to have to go back to the Pitt. They're working on a product for me that makes materials radiation proof."
"That sounds promising.", Hawk replied. "We can stop in there when we get to the northern part of our routes. We really need to check on some of our business ventures before our clients get the idea we're slacking on them."
Calli agreed with that. "Yeah, we need to stop in Megaton anyway. I gotta get Moira to check my DNA."