- "We should be nearing the settlement soon."
Amy stopped and for what must have been a hundredth time looked at the map on her pipboy. The map agreed with Shroud. The pale dot indicating her position was getting closer and closer to the marker Amata placed there earlier, a settlement called 'Megaton'. Yet, it didn't feel like it. She's been walking for what felt like forever but all she could see was the road and and endless row of ruined buildings. She did not run into any more dogs or other wildlife.
Amy noticed some movement ahead. She walked faster towards it and even waved her hand. On reflection it wasn't the smartest thing to do, but she was desperate to see another human being, or at least for some sign that she was getting somewhere. When she got closer she stopped dead in her tracks and sprinted towards the nearest ruined house, taking cover behind the remains of a wall. Scurrying around in the ruins ahead was a group of the same creatures she fought in the Vault.
Amy fought back the urge to run back. As horrible as these things were, she dealt with them earlier, she told herself, and now she had a real weapon. What's more, as strange and desolate as this place was, it had a lot of places to hide. As long as there weren't other creatures outside of the group she saw, she could sneak past them.
She took a big detour around the building, sprinting from cover to cover, holding the gun ahead of her and looking all around her but especially in the direction of the creatures. It was hard to do with the heavy backpack she was carrying but she didn't attract the attention of any of the creatures. If any of them noticed her, they took no interest.
Once clear of the group of creatures, Amy resumed her normal posture and continued forward. She was much more cautious now, regularly taking cover behind a wall of a ruined building to check for movement ahead. This did not prove necessary - the group of creatures was the last living thing she saw. There was just the destroyed road running though the endless wasteland, with ruins on either side of it. The whistling of the wind and the quiet sound of her own footsteps was the only sound she could hear.
After a while Amy almost felt like she's be glad to see anything living, even if it attacked her immediately. Her legs were now hurting so much she could hardly walk and a feeling of panic started creeping in. What if Amata's marker was wrong? What if there was no settlement there at all, just endless wasteland? Just then, she saw a metal sign on the side of the road. It was rusted through so completely that from a distance she couldn't see any letters but after peering at it for a while she could just about make out the inscription - 'Springvale'.
Amy didn't know what this meant, but at least it was something different. Feeling a little more hopeful she kept on walking forward. Then out of a corner of her eye she spotted movement in one of the buildings up ahead. Holding her gun in front of her and finding cover wherever she could Amy crept forward. Then, hiding behind a wall she peeked her head out and looked closer.
The building in front of her looked a lot more intact than other ruins she saw. It looked like the holes in the walls and the ceiling were covered by something. On the side of the building opposite the road she could see what looked like a row of plants of some kind. Moving among the plants was a man.
With a strength she didn't think she had Amy run forward, waving her head and shouting. Startled by the noise the man looked like he was ready to jump inside the building but then he seemingly changed his mind. He stood there and looked at Amy running towards him. He looked old and wiry, clumps of unkempt grey hair framing his long face. What he was wearing - Amy guessed that at some point in time it used to be some sort of short-sleeved shirt and pants. Now, however - Amy has read the word 'rags' in books, this must have been what the word meant.
- "Hi, hello. I'm so so happy to see you." Amy struggled to get her breath back."Uh, do you live here?"
The man didn't answer, just squinted his eyes at the bizarre question.
- "Are you here alone? Do other people live here?"
- "Course other people live here. This here is Springvale." The man's expression grew more suspicious. "Did you get stung by a radscorpion? You ain't making much sense."
- "Radscorpion?" repeated Amy uncertainly. "Um, it's just I've been walking this road for so long and didn't see anybody at all."
- "Right, you're with a caravan then. Why are you alone though, where's the rest of you?" when Amy paused, unsure how to answer, the man continued "Anyhow, you're probably heading to Megaton, right?"
- "Megaton! Yes, that is where I was going. Is it far from here? Could you tell me how to get there?"
Amy paused, then walked closer to the man. "Oh, I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Amy." - she offered the man her hand.
- "Uh, I'm Ben" the man shook her hand uncertainly but his expression remained suspicious and his right eyebrow was raised. "Megaton is real close, just keep following the road. You can't miss it. I kinda thought you knew." He let go of her hand and took a step back. "Anyhow, I've got to do some things here."
- "Um, yes of course." As the man turned around and headed back into the house, Amy called after him "Thank you!". The man gestured with his right hand but didn't turn around.
Amy had about a million more questions for the man but he's gone inside now. She must look as strange to him as he did to her, she thought. She walked a bit further, found a slab of concrete she could sit on and took a short rest. She couldn't really say she felt happy, but she definitely felt relieved. Amata was right, this world wasn't completely dead. There were people living here, this 'Megaton' settlement was there. She would find Dad there, she thought, and finally start making some sense of all this madness.
As Amy continued walking she saw more people. She wanted to talk to them but she resolved to get to Megaton as soon as she could. Her legs felt like they were going to give way any minute. Then, as she painfully climbed a hill, she saw it.
At first what Amy saw in front of her looked like a giant heap of scrap metal. Amy almost ignored it as another ruined building in a world that seemed to be filled with nothing but ruined buildings. Then she realized the size of the thing she was looking at. It couldn't possibly be ... She checked the pipboy map - this was where the settlement was supposed to be.
As Amy got closer she could see a really tall wall made from massive irregularly shaped pieces of metal. Everything Amy knew about engineering told her that it should have collapsed within a few minutes of her seeing it. She could now see structures rising above the wall here and there, and human figures on top of them. Were they just standing there? Squinting into the bright sunlight she could see something like a much bigger version of her BB gun in the hands of one of the figures. Were they guarding this place? There must have been greater dangers here than the giant insect creatures or feral dogs.
She could see what must have been a gate to the settlement. As she was getting closer she heard one of the guards shouting in her direction. The voice was male, she thought it sounded young.
- "Hey you, stop right there. Another step and I'll put a bullet right between your eyes. I don't recognize you. Who the fuck are you?"
Amy froze in place. alarmed and confused. She could see the guard pointing his gun at her.
- "I just wanted to go inside. Please?"
- "What do you want here? Where do you come from?"
- "I'm from a Vault nearby, I'm, um, looking for someone." Amy was thinking frantically "I have things I could trade here?"
- "From a Vault, yeah right" Amy heard a dismissive snort. Then a few moments later, she heard the guard's voice again, sounding a lot less certain. "Uhm, wait here, OK?"
The silhouette of the guard disappeared. Amy waited, nervously fiddling with the strap of her rucksack. Why would they be afraid to let her in? What danger could she possibly be to these people? She considered that no one was allowed to get into the Vault either. But that was the Vault. Maybe there was some dangerous disease they were afraid to let into their town? Not a pleasant thought, but if that's what it was, maybe she could help. It seemed likely that medical knowledge of these people could be limited.
Amy's thought were interrupted by the guard's voice "OK you can come in. You'll need to see Sheriff Simms right away."
- "How do I find this Sheriff Simms?"
- "Big guy, really big hat, ask around".
Moments later she heard a loud screech of metal scraping against metal and saw the gate slowly lift. Amy didn't feel like thanking the guard after having a gun pointed at her. She went in nervously.
She certainly didn't expect what she saw inside. Everything was made from the same large irregularly shaped sheets of metal as the wall. There were metal houses, metal stairs, metal walkways. The houses were so odd looking that at first Amy didn't recognize them as such. The metal they were made of was often completely corroded. Some of the houses had strange small oval-shaped windows, there was something oddly familiar about them. while other houses had no windows at all. The ruined buildings she saw on the outskirts of the settlement were strange enough but these crude metal boxes - could people really live in these things? It seemed incredible.
The people Amy saw walking around were just as strange. Their clothing was completely bizzare, she couldn't have imagined these people's attire no matter how hard she tried. Most people's clothes looked like they were about to completely fall apart any second, much like everything else in this town. Some people's outfits were mismatched in oddest possible ways. Amy saw a woman wearing what seemed to be leather armor and a yellow polka dot skirt, while another man had what looked like a much larger version of a Vault security helmet and what Amy guessed must have been a business suit a long long time ago.
It wasn't just the clothes, the people themselves were somehow different too. Something about them made Amy think of the dog she shot earlier. Many of them stared at her as she walked past, she obviously looked as strange to them as they did to her.
'I'll have plenty of time to gawk at this place later' Amy thought 'now I need to find this Sheriff Simms and then Dad'.
The settlement was shaped like a funnel, the closer to the center the lower the ground. Amy felt like she was always walking downhill. Getting closer to the center, she noticed the most bizzare thing she ever saw in her life, even in the time since she left the vault. There was a large animal tied to a fence. She's never seen an animal this large in person, only pictures in books, but that wasn't the strangest thing about it. This animal had two heads. One of the heads was chewing on sparse grass under its feet, the other was looking around with an air of indifference. Amy felt a little nervous and gave the animal a wide berth when walking past it, but it didn't seem to care about her or anything else.
In the center and the lowest point of the settlement there was a shallow pool of muddy water. Amy saw a group of people standing in the pool. Another man was standing a short distance from the group, it looked like he was talking to them. He was waiving his arms around in grand, sweeping gestures.
After some time Amy finally found Sheriff Sims. The guard didn't lie about his hat. It was huge and looked exactly like the hats Amy saw in comics about cowboys and Indians.
- "Are you Sheriff Sims? I've just arrived and was told to come see you."
- "Yes I am, welcome to Megaton." The man had a deep, commanding voice. "I try to meet every newcomer, unless I'm busy with something. You're welcome to stay so long as you don't make any trouble. If you do, I will personally end you. Are we clear?" He looked at Amy sternly.
Amy was taken aback. What were they afraid of? "I'm not going to make any trouble".
- "Wouldn't have thought so, from the look of you, but you never know. So, where do you come from?"
- "The Vault nearby. It's the first time I've been outside."
- "The Vault, sure, whatever you say." Simms looked rather unimpressed with the claim. "So, what brings you to our town?"
- "I'm looking for my father, a middle aged guy". Amy shrugged, trying to sound casual, but her heart was racing. Wherever her father was going, he must have gone through here.
- "You'll have to give me a bit more than that" Simms sounded amused.
God, what on Earth was she thinking. - "Sorry, yes of course." Amy took a deep breath, then started describing her father's appearance, voice. way of speaking, mannerisms ...
- "OK, ok, I get it. Yes, I've seen a man like that. Came through here a couple of days ago. Had a look about him, like he was on a mission."
- "Do you know where he is now?"
- "As I remember, he came here late in the evening, stayed the night and left the first thing in the morning. He wasn't here long, was in a real hurry to get somewhere."
Amy felt like a balloon that's just been popped. "Do you know where he went?"
"No idea, sorry. I think he's stopped to get some supplies from Moira's shop, might want to talk to her. He's stayed over at Moriarty's too, so he might know something."
- "Okay, thanks Sheriff Simms." Amy turned to go, then hesitantly turned around. "When I came in, the guard pointed a gun at me. Is something happening here?"
- "That's Tim. I told him to watch out for strangers, didn't tell him to shoot nobody. I'll need to go talk some sense into that boy. There's been a lot of Raider attacks recently. They haven't actually attacked Megaton yet but they've been getting pretty damn near. Everyone's a bit on edge here."
- "Raiders?"
- "Yes, you know, Raiders?" Meeting Amy's blank stare Simms narrowed his eyes, took a long, studying look at her. "You really are from the Vault, aren'y you? Well, I'll be damned. It's been years since they've last sent people here. Are you here to trade? They sent more people last time, and they weren't quite so young."
- "No, I'm not here to trade. I haven't really left by choice."
- "What do you mean by that?" Simms raised his right eyebrow.
- "I had to escape the Vault. I'm pretty sure they would've killed me" said Amy blankly.
- "They would've killed you? Are you poking my brahmin now?" then Simm's stare grew heavy "What did you do? Did you steal something or ...?"
- "I didn't do anything!" protested Amy. "Dad left the Vault without permission. Well, no one is supposed to leave the Vault, ever. When Dad left, they went after anyone who was close to him. Dad's friend .. my friend ... his name was Jonas. They took him to question and .. they beat him to death. They tried to get me too but I escaped."
Simms shook his head "That don't make any sense at all. They don't allow people to leave? Why would anyone even want to do that?" he stroked his beard thougthfully. "I guess the Vault is not the paradise folks here think it is, huh?" he turned to Amy "You'll have to tell me more about the Vault some day. Anyway, in this town you're free to come and go as you please. So long as you ..." Simms hesitated.
"As long as I don't make trouble. Got it" Amy smiled slightly.
"Did your old man tell you why he left?"
- "No, he didn't tell me anything ... I'm not really sure why he left."
- "Guess we better ask him then. I don't know where he went but I bet he left with one of the caravans. Moira might know more about that, she deals with traders more than anybody here. She's in Craterside Supplies. Moriarty might know something as well, but be real careful with him. He's one slippery sonofabitch."
Simms looked thoughtful for a few moments. "Look, life here in the Wasteland is a little different than what you're probably used to in the Vault. There's some things you've got to know. Come see me later in the evening, I should have some time free then. I'll take you through the basics. My house is on the right nearest to the gate."
- "I will. Thank you Sheriff Simms."
- "Oh, and another thing. While you look for your Dad, you can stay in the common house. It'll be safer for you than out in Springvale."
Amy wasn't sure what this meant but she thanked Simms again.
'Moira at Craterside Supplies' Amy repeated to herself. She could know where Dad went. Amy worried that she wouldn't be able to find the place, all the houses here looked the same to her. Then she noticed the name written in large crudely drawn white letters on one of the buildings.
The door to the supply store made a loud grating sound when Amy opened it. Inside it was quite dark, the light coming from a single dim lamp on the counter. There were rows of shelves, rusty metal like everything else in this place, with what must have been the goods sold in this shop. The wares were laid out neatly but mostly looked like junk.
Behind the counter she saw a girl. She looked young, though older than Amy, thin, dark red hair tied in a short ponytail. The jumpsuit she was wearing looked to be in relatively good condition but it lost its original color due to numerous stains covering it. It looked a little like something Vault maintenance crew would wear.
- "Hii, what are you're looking for?" The girl looked at Amy "I don't think I've seen you before, are you new in Megaton?" Amy opened her mouth to answer but never got a chance. The girl's already large green eyes grew even wider. "Hey, you're that girl from the Vault aren't you? I've heard about you. Have you really lived your whole life underground? What was it like to be outside for the first time? What do you think about the Capital Wasteland?"
Amy smiled at the torrent of questions. "This place is amazing. In the main room, I can't even see the ceiling." The girl smiled "And you have no idea how hard it is to replace that big light bulb."
Amy grinned back at her. "I'm Amy"
- "Nice to meet you! I'm Moira" gushed the girl. "I run this shop but I also do a bit of tinkering and research".
- "Research?"
- "Oh, you know, just experimenting, trying to see if something works. Might get something useful if it does, get a big ole mess to clean up if it doesn't." Moira leaned on the counter. "Ooh, I like your suit. Looks so new. Really good fit too."
- "Thank you" said Amy distractedly. She wanted to ask the question she came here for but felt oddly hesitant and it was hard to get a word in edgeways.
- "Doesn't look like it gives much protection, though. There are some dangerous things out here in the Wasteland. Wouldn't want some mirelurk making you their dinner, would we?"
- "What's a .. " started Amy.
- "Tell you what. I'll add some armor to your Vault suit. It'll feel a little heavier, won't look quite as good either but will give you some nice protection against all the nasty things out there. While I'm working on it, I've got something about your size for you to wear. More or less."
- "Amy was about to politely decline, but then remembered the dog. Besides, she thought, it would be good to blend in with the locals a little more. She was already getting a little tired of everyone staring at 'the girl from the Vault'.
While Moira was getting the measurements and chatting away, Amy finally worked up the courage to ask the main question. She took a deep breath. "Moira, I'm looking for someone. He may have come to your shop in the last couple of days" She described her father.
- "Yes, I saw a man like that two days ago. Handsome guy. You knew him from before?" Moira paused for a moment, then gasped with the realization."So he was from the Vault too? He didn't tell me. He wasn't wearing the same suit as you. He didn't really stand out the way you do, either. I had no idea."
- "Did he say where he was going?"
Moira squinted in concentration. "He traded a few things in for some caps, then asked about the caravans. When folks here want to get somewhere far away they often go with a caravan that's heading in the same direction, safer that way. Caravaneers won't say no to an extra gun at their side in case things get a bit hairy. There just happened to be a caravan in town, Old Luke, sells guns mainly. They left the next morning."
Amy felt her stomach sinking. Why did there have to be a caravan there right when Dad show up, going the same way he was. Why couldn't this Old Luke turn up a couple of days later? Such terrible luck. Then again, she thought, what if Dad would've left by himself otherwise? At least that way it's safer for him. Would he really have left this place on his own? She didn't know, she could only guess. "Do you know where was the caravan was going?"
"I think they were going to Evergreen Mills, then maybe Girdershade. Raider territory." Moira looked at Amy closely. "If you're thinking about going after them, that's a reeeally bad idea. Between here and Evergreen Mills you have a stretch where there's no settlements, no roads, nothing. There's some really nasty critters in that area. I've heard you can even run into deathclaws out there. See, the merchants know the safe routes to avoid all the nasties, but if you try to go after them you'll just get lost and end up a deathclaw snack."
- "If you tell me the route I can catch up with them. They're moving all those goods, you said weapons, right? So they have to be moving quite slowly. I can move pretty fast, I would only be carrying the bare minimum. I'll catch up to them in no time, and then we'll all be safe, together."
- "I don't know the routes, sorry. I haven't moved with the caravans for years now. Besides, every merchant has their own route." Moira sounded slightly surprised. "Tell you what, many caravans go through Megaton. Not as many as Canterbury Commons, of course, but still there's one every so often. I know all the merchants, so if any of them are heading that way they'll be on the lookout for Old Luke and your Dad. They can get the word out that you're waiting for him in Megaton. Or at least they'll know where he is"
Amy was quiet. In her head she knew that Moira was right, but she didn't want to accept that knowledge and was trying to think of any ways she could still go after the caravan.
- "Who is this guy to you, anyway?"
- "He's my father."
- "Sorry, I had no idea" Moira looked even more surprised now. "So he left the Vault and didn't take you with him? Or tell you where he was going?" Amy just shook her head. "I promise, as soon as there is a caravan heading in that direction I'll ask them. There's some favors I could pull."
Moira was right, Amy thought. She had no hope without knowing the route, and it really sounded like she was not equipped to handle the local wildlife. She killed that dog with the help of that strange aptitude she had for shooting but even now she felt a bit shaken looking back on that. Besides, she was just really really tired. The last two days have taken their toll emotionally and physically. She nodded her head dejectedly "Thank you."
- "Don't worry, I'm sure you Dad will turn up in no time" said Moira confidently. "Also, he stayed the night at Moriarty's, he might know a bit more."
- "Thank, you, I was just going there."
Moriarty's saloon was easy to find - it had a big sign with the name painted in white crudely drawn letters. Inside, it was even darker than Moira's shop. With the first step the smell hit Amy like a punch in the face - a pungent mixture of stale sweat, alcohol breath and vomit. It almost made her retch. There were a lot of people for such a small place. Amy couldn't see their faces - it was too dark - but they sounded really really drunk. Amy has never seen people so drunk before in her life. Even Beatrice on her worst day never got like this. The voices were mostly male but she heard female voices too. She saw a man lying on the floor, everyone around apparently indifferent to the fact. Worried that he was lying face up, Amy started towards him, but then the man mumbled something incoherent, turned to his side and went back to sleep.
As Amy walked towards the bar, a sound cut across all the drunken conversation. It was something in between a song with no words, a wail and a growl. The sound continued for a short while, then its source - a man on the far side of the bar - dropped his head on the table, face first, and went quiet. The hubbub of drunken conversation resumed.
As she was nearing the bar, carefully stepping past the customers, a man came stumbling past the bar and bumped into her. As Amy struggled to stay on her feet she came face to face with the man. His eyes looked right through her. He didn't smell of alcohol at all but there was something very odd about the glazed over look in his eyes and his toothy smile.
Behind the bar a slightly built bald man was serving the customers. In the dim light of the saloon his face seemed to be disfigured somehow. He had his back to her when she finally made it to the bar.
- "Excuse me, can I speak with Mo ..." The man turned his face towards her and she almost fell backwards in shock. It looked like most of the skin on his face, if it could be called that, was has rotted away, leaving only a thin layer around the skull. He had no nasal cartilage, no lips, no eyebrows. What kind of disease could have done that, thought Amy. Embarrassed of her first reaction she continued "I'm sorry, could I speak with Moriarty?"
The man looked at her. He was leaning away from her, looking downwards, almost like he was afraid of her. Thinking he probably didn't hear her, Amy spoke louder "I was told the owner of this establishment is Moriarty, could I please speak to him?" There was a look of surprise on the disfigured man's face. Finally he spoke, his voice sounding unexpectedly croaky "Yes, yes of course, I'll get him right away. Please wait here, it will only be a minute" He hurried off into the narrow corridor leading somewhere to the back of the house.
A few minutes later Colin Moriarty walked out of the corridor. He was a stocky man with long unkempt blonde hair and a short beard. It was hard to tell his age, Amy would guess him to be in his fourties."Yes, what did you want?" he asked indifferently.
"Hi, my name is Amy"
"Mighty pleased to make your acquaintance" Moriarty gave an exaggerated bow. "Now, once again, what the fuck is it you want?" He looked at Amy for a few moments "Wait, I know who you are. You're the girl from the Vault" Now there was interest in his voice "Allow me to welcome you to the finest drinking establishment in the town of Megaton. You want a drink, you talk to scrotum face over there" - he waved his hand in the direction of the disfigured man, who was back behind the bar - "for other services we offer, you talk to me"
- "I'm looking for someone" Amy described her father,
- "Yes, I think I remember the guy. He spent a night here, left yesterday morning."
- "Did he tell you where he was going?"
- "As a matter of fact he did, yes. You want me to tell you?"
- "Yes, thank you"
- "We don't do things for a 'thank you' here, kid. However, I'd be happy to share that information with you for, say, a hundred caps?"
As Amy stared at him in confusion, Moriarty looked back at her thoughtfully for a few moments. "Heh I'm just messing with you. How would you have that many caps. You probably don't even know what caps are" He chuckled to himself. "Who is this guy to you, anyway?"
- "He's my father"
- "Is he now? Well, from what your old man told me, he left with a caravan going east. This one is on the house"
Nothing new. At least it confirmed what Moira told her.
Moriarty looked her up and down and mused "You're a pretty little thing, aren't you? Really young, but that's no problem. Nova could use some help." He looked at Amy directly "How would you like to work here? Easiest caps you'll make in this town."
"No thanks" answered Amy, then quickly added "but thank you for the offer". There wasn't anything else Moriarty could tell her and she didn't want to spend another second in this place, serving drinks here really didn't appeal to her. Besides, the man with the horrible facial disfigurement seemed to be handling this job just fine. Who was this Nova anyway, she wondered.
- "Eh, your loss. If you find yourself hurting for caps, the offer still stands."
Amy said her goodbyes and left as quickly she could, trying carefully not to bump into any of the drunken patrons.
Later in the day she decided to accept Lukas Simms' invitation. He was the nearest thing this place had to the Overseer, she thought, so it would be good to get on his good side. Also, it would be good to learn more about the outside world. The house on the right, nearest to the gate, she remembered.
She thought Sheriff Simms' house would be bigger than others in this town, but it looked just about the same size. She knocked on the door. There was no reply. She moved to knock again, then noticed the door was not locked. Maybe Simms was in but too busy to answer, she thought, and stepped inside carefully.
Inside, the house had a close resemblance to Moira's shop. The same metal walls, the same crude metal furniture. It was tidy but Amy saw little in the way of decorations, anything to make it look like a home. In the center of the room there was a large table, a young boy was sitting behind it, Amy thought he looked about eight or nine years old. The boy was completely absorbed in some activity and didn't seem to notice her. Not wanting to disturb him she quietly came closer.
There was a weapon lying on the table. Amy remembered from history books that it was an assault rifle, the kind the Chinese invasion force used at Anchorage. The boy's hands were flying over the gun, putting parts inside it.
The boy put the last part into the gun, then deftly slid the magazine inside - it made a loud clicking sound - and looked at the large alarm clock on the shelf nearby.
"Fifteen minutes! Awe-some!" he finally noticed Amy "Oh, hi. Did you come to see Dad?"
- "You're Lukas Simms' son?"
- "Yeah, I'm Harden. Uh, nice to meet you."
- "Nice to meet you. I'm Amy" she looked at the rifle "Were you repairing this gun?"
- "Nah. I could if I had to, though. I've just reassembled it in fifteen minutes!" Harden announced proudly.
Amy was taken aback a little. She had her BB gun when she was ten, but this was a real weapon. "You don't think you're a bit too young for this?"
"Lady, raiders don't care how young you are" Harden said with a face like Mr Brotch when he was talking to Freddy. Amy recognized the tones and inflections in his voice - make it deeper and it would sound exactly like Simms senior. "Have you been living under a rock your whole life?"
"Actually, I have" Amy smiled. "Underground, in a Vault"
Harden stared at Amy in wonder "You're from the Vault? Wooww" He looked at her uncertainly "I thought they never go outside. From the Vault, I mean."
"They don't normally. I'm a bit of a special case." Amy did her best to hide the sadness in her smile.
"Cool. Can you tell me what it's like in there? Uhm, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind" Amy smiled.
They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Simms senior walked into the house. Harden rushed towards him "Dad, dad, I've just assembled the rifle in fifteen minutes!"
- "That's four minutes faster than your old time! Good job"
- "Oh and this is Amy. She's from the Vault!"
Simms looked over in Amy's direction and nodded "I was going to tell you about the Wasteland. Wait there, I'll be with you in a minute."
While Simms talked, Amy put markers on her Pipboy map - it wasn't always easy however. Simms' coordinate system started at Megaton, the further away from the town the less he could tell about what was there and the less certain he was about it. Still, the area he could describe seemed impossibly huge, bizzare and fascinating to Amy.
To the north of Megaton, there was Grayditch, a smaller settlement. It's main feature according to Simms was "Their wall is nowhere near as good as ours. Only chest high at most and in a few places collapsed completely. A bit of a joke, really". Further back there was the Potomac river. Simms warned her against swimming in there - "fastest way to die from radiation poisoning, and there's mirelurks in the water". Mirelurks according to Simms were creatures with really tough armor all over, huge razor sharp claws and a mean temper. Further east, still on the Megaton side of the river there was a base of a group called "the Brotherhood of Steel". Simms' take on them was "they got themselves some real powerful weapons and armor. Some folks here think they're some kind of big heroes, going to save the whole Wasteland or some such nonsense. I don't really know what they're up to but I don't trust them. You best just stay away from them." Further east there were what Simms called 'DC ruins' - "a whole lot of ruined building for miles and miles". According to Simms these ruins were home to all kinds of deadly creatures and also "really spooky". On top of that, there were rumors about a new kind of monsters appearing in the ruins - ones that looked like humans but a lot bigger and green skinned. They were said to be able to use firearms and attack anyone they saw. Simms was very emphatic that Amy should never set foot anywhere near the DC ruins.
To the south there were smaller clusters of destroyed pre-war buildings and roving bands of raiders. To the north, across the irradiated river, there was hostile wildlife and more raiders. There were some small settlements scattered around but according to Simms most of them were taken over by raiders or would soon end up that way. To the east there was a stretch of land that was barren and featureless even by the Capital Wasteland standards. Attacks by dangerous wasteland predators were common there. "If you die there, no one will ever find your body" said Simms. Beyond that, there was raider territory.
-"So, I should just stay in Megaton?" asked Amy.
- "Pretty much, yes. By far the safest town in the Wasteland" Simms paused for a moment. "Well, there is also this place called Rivet City" he conceded reluctantly. "Supposed to be in some giant floating pre-war building. Don't know that much about it."
It's not like she had a choice, thought Amy. All she could do now was to hope that this Moira girl really had some connections among the merchants and wait for any news about where Dad went. She would need to learn more about this town. What she really needed now was to get a good night's sleep. She would think about everything in the morning.