- "Time to wake up. We'll miss the sunrise."
Amy slowly, reluctantly opened her eyes. She spent some time shrugging off the last remains of the sleep and letting her eyes adjust to the darkness inside the room, then looked at her pipboy. Shroud was right, it was time to get up. She put her boots and the armored Vault Suit on, trying to make as little noise as she could in order not to wake up the others. She shouldn't have bothered. Skinny Tim was snoring again, the sound like the main Vault reactor up close, except even louder. Another Megaton resident she didn't know, Mark or Matt or something like that, was talking in his sleep, loudly. Common House was not a good place to sleep. Still, she got a good night's sleep, Amy recalled. No nightmares for the fourth day in a row. This had to be good sign, right?
Amy's been living in Megaton for about three weeks now. She realized that she was now starting to accept that this was real, this was her life now.
Megaton had three types of residents. Most of the people lived outside Megaton proper in the area called Springvale after the pre-war name of the town that used to be here. These people made their living growing razorgrain and mutfruit, herding brahmin and hunting molerats and other wildlife. Houses there were falling apart for the last two hundred years. Most of them had holes in walls and ceilings or sometimes had entire walls missing - the locals crudely boarded those up as well as they could. Despite the structural weaknesses, the houses there were large and comfortable, compared with the rusty shacks in Megaton at least. Most people there, even the hunters, had strips of land next to their houses where they grew food. In spite of this, Springvale was considered to be the worst place to the area had no protection against the dangerous wildlife. Molerats were an important source of food but also an ever-present danger. Wild dogs attacked anyone who strayed too far outside of the populated areas. Often people who went to get water from the nearby river would get attacked by the mirelurks. Even radroaches could be dangerous if they you run into a swarm of them. On rare occasions you could even run into a hungry Yao Guai scavenging for food, although they usually stayed away from the populated areas. They were known to sometimes break through the doors and boarded up holes of people's houses and go inside in search of food. Many Springvale residents wanted to live in Megaton but space there was limited.
The second type of residents were those that lived inside the Megaton walls but didn't have their own house- they lived in the Common House. For that, you had to get permission from Lukas Simms. Common House was always overcrowded. you had hardly any personal possessions aside from a mattress, there was no space for them anyway. Most people only used it as a place to sleep. Still, those that were allowed to live there were considered lucky, because at least you were safe behind the Megaton's wall.
The last and the most fortunate type of Megaton residents were those who had their own house. In truth, Megaton's houses were not great places to live. They got really hot during the day and really cold in the night. Inside they always looked ugly, in spite of all the efforts of their residents. Still, it was so much better than the Common House. Only the oldest Megaton residents, or those considered the most valuable were lucky enough to have their own home.
Amy carefully went down the walkway - in the dark you had to be really careful not to fall down - and walked briskly towards the gate. When she approached the gate she heard a man's voice.
- "Who goes there?"
- "Hey Joe" Amy answered "It's Amy. Would you mind ... ?"
She couldn't see the man's expression in the dark but the gate opened with a metallic screech. She thanked the man, then headed for the hill overlooking the Potomac river and the DC ruins behind it. She got to the top of the hill just as the sun was starting to rise.
It was a ritual that Amy followed daily. She would always get up early, then go to the top of that hill - she now considered it her hill - to watch the sunrise. She read about it back in the Vault but it was nothing like experiencing it in reality - watching the sky turn the most incredible shades of red and orange, and then the sun slowly, majestically, rising above the city ruins and lighting up the world. People in Megaton knew about this habit but it was seen as just one of Amy's many eccentricities. She supposed that eventually she would grow to see it as something completely unremarkable like everyone else in Megaton did. For now, Amy never missed a chance to witness this miracle taking place every single day.
After she was done watching the sunrise Amy felt better. She always felt good afterwards, calm and refreshed somehow. She then sighed, took out her 10 mm gun and went downhill to hunt for molerats.
In the Wasteland there were no ration coupons like in the Vault, so soon after arriving in Megaton Amy was faced with a question of how she was going to feed herself. Most people in Megaton got their own food by hunting or farming. There was however a currency of sorts - 'caps', which Amy learned were just bottlecaps from Nuka-Cola and other soft drinks - which could be exchanged for food and other things.
Most of the things Amy knew in the Vault were of no use here. Her engineering experience occasionally helped when she needed to repair some of her things but not enough to live off. Amy knew how to diagnose and repair faults in complex equipment like the Vault water filtration systems and electric transformers, using the equipment manuals and the right tools, not how to turn a rusty piece of junk into something useable with only the most basic tools that were themselves desperately in need of repair. As for her pipboy programming knowledge, it was completely useless here - no one in Megaton had any idea what a pipboy even was, most people thought it was either some kind of weapon or a really strange piece of jewellery.
There was one other thing she could do to earn a living. No matter where you were, there would always be sick or injured people and a need for someone to treat them. Amy learned that there was a clinic here in Megaton and after talking to the doctor running it, he agreed to have Amy work with him and pay her caps. She was really excited about the prospect at first - finally she could put her medical knowledge to use and save lives, make a real difference. Clearly there was a lot to do for a doctor here. Things, however did not work out that way.
The arrangement was that Amy would help the town doctor, or healer as the townsfolk usually called him, Doc Church, in exchange for a part of the caps he got from treating people. Doc Church, was a gruff, no nonsense kind of man. Amy never learned his real first name - he never used it himself, nor did anyone else in town - it was always 'Doc Church' or just 'Doc'. He tended to the people of Megaton for years and was extremely skilled at treating all kinds of wounds and injuries. from extracting bullets to mending broken limbs. He didn't however have any kind of medical education - everything he knew was either something he taught himself or learned apprenticing to another doctor "more years ago than I can remember". Amy was excited at the prospect of combining her knowledge and Doc Church's skill and experience but it soon became clear that he was hostile to the idea of "some little girl" telling him how to do his job. He saw Amy as an apprentice, or what used to be called 'a nurse' before the war.
Even that Amy was prepared to do, but she found herself struggling. Back in the Vault she never got to help father in his clinic and now she didn't have any hands-on experience. Even her theoretical knowledge involved medicine and equipment which the Megaton clinic simply didn't have. It seemed that there were only three three types of medicine that existed in the were stimpaks - an extremely effective pre-war cocktail of stimulants, painkillers and some regenerative ingredients Amy didn't know about. They were intended for use on the battlefield, but were relatively common here - people must have come across stockpiles of them, Amy thought. There was also Med-X, which Amy learned was just morphine and something called Rad-away - a surprisingly effective treatment for radiation sickness. Anything else - even the simplest antibiotics - weren't there. Treatment was done without anaesthetic - those who had caps got a Med-X injection, those who didn't got booze from Moriarty's salon and something to bite down on. Once she saw Doc Church knock a patient unconscious with a piece of metal pipe before cutting out a spreading infection.
Even if she would have any experience in the Vault, she would never see the kind of patients who came to the Megaton clinic. In the Vault medbay she saw Dad treat sprains, minor cuts and bruises, ocassionally burns when someone in maintenance touched a hot pipe. Here, animal bites were the most common problem - often horrible wounds deep enough to go all the way to the bone, sometimes with whole chunks of flesh missing, sometimes infected. Cancer was also very common - there Doc Church would just give something for the pain.
Amy tried, but it was difficult and Doc Church had no patience at all. Finally, when she threw up on the floor of the clinic when helping to extract a bloatfly larvae from an infected wound, annoyed Doc Church told her that her apprenticeship was over - he would no longer share his caps with her.
As crushed as Amy was she now had to find some other way to get food - or caps to trade it for. The only choice she had at that point was to make a living the way most Megaton residents did - farming or hunting. Amy knew nothing about raising brahmin and trying to grow anything in the cracked, dry soil of the wasteland seemed beyond her, so she bought some ammo for her 10mm gun and went out hunting.
As she expected, her strange talent for shooting things she had has helped. Every day she would go out into the wasteland and return with a few corpses or dogs or molerats on her back. At first she would trade them with Jenny Stahl for some food and with Moira for more ammo. Later she learned how to skin and cook her kills herself.
Amy mainly hunted dogs and molerats. She would only hunt bloatflies or radroaches on particularly bad days - just the thought of eating them made her want to throw up. Jenny Stahl and even Moira would happily trade for their corpses however - Megaton residents weren't as picky about what they ate. Squirrels made for much more appetizing food but the thought of killing them was too horrible for Amy. They were just about the only creature in the Wasteland that didn't mutate into a giant and hideous version of its pre-war self - they looked just as cute as they did in the books Amy read in the Vault. The only difference was the color - in the books they were supposed to be red or grey, but the only ones Amy saw were brownish-grey or beige. Besides it was really hard to find one - as soon as they saw you they scurried away immediately.
Making a living killing things was depressing but Amy told herself this was just temporary. After all, she was just waiting for news about the caravan Dad left with. Besides, hunting was also a way to help the people of Megaton. It kept the molerat population in the area under control. Most of the people that came to Doc Church's clinic had molerat or dog bites. Amy found it easy - it came naturally to her, but it was a rather lonely job - she would spend the whole day by herself with no one but her imaginary friend Silver Shroud for company. The worst thing about that was that she had too much time to think.
At times, she did find it possible to take her mind off things. It still amazed her to the core of her being just how much space there was around. At times, standing on a hill looking at the river in the distance and the city ruins beyond that, she felt a little dizzy. Looking at the distant city ruins Amy felt an overpowering urge to go there and explore. On her hunting trips she would often stray a lot further than was safe. At times it was hard to not just keep walking towards something she saw in the distance.
After she was done hunting, Amy would go back to Megaton. She would often go see Gob at Moriarty's Saloon, but lately she spent most of her evenings talking to Moira. She would tell Amy about the wasteland and Amy would tell her about her life in the Vault. It amused Amy just how fascinated Moira was with every little detail of life in the Vault, even the most mundane things like the food dispensers. "But how does the food not go bad?" and after Amy explained that the food was refrigerated. "But how can it be so cold like that? Is it really cold in the Vault? Wouldn't it be really horrible to live in?". Amy explained the basic principles of refrigeration as best she could - it seemed to leave Moira even more in awe of pre-war technology than she already was. Sometimes they would talk for hours.
One day their conversation was interrupted by Maggie poking her head through the door. Maggie was the sweetest nine year old girl in existence, at least Amy thought so. "Moira, Crazy Wolfgang is here", then noticing Amy "Oh sorry". "Thanks Maggie" answered Moira grabbing two large crates and smoothing her hair with her hand, then to Amy "Right, I've got to do and do some trading. Ooh, do you want to come with me? He might know something about your Dad"
Amy didn't need to be asked twice. She hurried after Moira, who bounded down the steps to the crater and then out of the Megaton gate.
It turned out that Crazy Wolfgang looked surprisingly ordinary for his name. He was rather young, medium height and had dark hair. His face had a permanent contemplative and slightly melancholic expression. The only crazy thing about him was his coat, an ugly brown garment with a ridiculous number of pockets and pouches. Behind him was a brahmin and two men in leather armor. When she saw him, Moira dropped her crates, shouted "Wolfie!", run towards the man and hugged him. They kissed. She then turned around to introduce Amy.
- "Wolfie, this is my new friend Amy. Amy, this here is my favorite Wolfgang in all the Wasteland"
- "And the craziest" Wolfgang gave a slight bow.
- "Oh, by far" Moira nodded emphatically. "Are you coming from Canterbury Commons?"
- "No, haven't been there in months"
After a discussion of Wolfgang's travels, Moira asked "So, what have you got for me?". The two of them then became engrossed in haggling. Amy didn't follow the conversation, she only caught a few stray bits of it.
- "Come on Moira, I'm not that crazy"
- "It's a mean mean Wasteland out there, a girl's got to look after herself"
- "Just look at the condition, almost new"
- "But Wolfie, what do you do with it?"
Both of them seemed to come out satisfied in the end. As Moira turned around, Amy called to her.
- "Oh, right, sorry. Wolfie, have you been out East recently?"
- "No, not ever going back there either. Brought my goods to Evergreen Mills a while back, they laughed me out of the town, then two of those assholes decided to use my Elise for target practice. Luckily they were horrible shots."
- "Elise?" asked Amy.
- "The only woman in the whole damn Wasteland who really understands me" Wolfgang patted his brahmin on the back. It didn't show any reaction.
- "Wolfie!" pouted Moira
- "One of only two women in the whole damn Wasteland who understand me" Wolfgang corrected himself.
- "Have you seen Old Luke recently?"
- "No, haven't seen him in a couple of months. Why are you asking?"
- "Amy's father left with his caravan, he didn't tell her where he was going. Old Luke said they were heading somewhere East."
- "Damn, sorry. If I run into him I'll ask"
- "Are you coming in now?" asked Moira.
- "Yes, let me just go grab a quick drink at the saloon, I'm parched."
- "I'll see you later then" said Moira.
Amy helped Moira carry one of the boxes back to Craterside Supplies. It wasn't heavy, wasn't even halfway full. As soon as the gate closed behind them Amy turned an interested look at Moira.
- "So are you and this Wolfgang ... ?"
- "Are we fucking? Yes."
- "Uh .. I was going to ask, are you seeing each other?"
- "Is that what they call in the Vault?" Moira smiled. "I like it. Yes we've been seeing each other for two years and a bit now." Moira paused. "Though these days we're not actually seeing each other that much. Wolfie is on the road most of the time and I'm running the store here. Sometimes he's away for months and then ..." she shook her head. "Nope, I'm not starting with this. I want tonight to be good."
- "He's good looking." said Amy.
- "Yes isn't he?" smiled Moira.
- "So what does he sell?" asked Amy.
- "Oh, just bits and pieces, a little bit of everything. It's junk really"
- "If it's junk why do you buy it?" Amy raised her eyebrows.
- "With a little bit of repair some of that stuff can turn out to be really useful. A little bit of tinkering, a little bit of love and you can sell it for lots and lots of caps" enthused Moira. "Some if it turns out to be pretty much useless, but hey, that's how it goes."
When they got to Craterside Supplies, Moira asked.
- "Um, sorry, do you mind if we finish our chat tomorrow?"
- "No, don't worry. Have fun." Amy grinned.
With Moira busy, Amy decided she was going to see Gob. This meant she would have to go to Moriarty's - Gob spent every waking minute working there.
It was already quite dark, so Amy had to be careful treading on the narrow rusty walkway to the saloon. The railing has collapsed in a couple of places and a misstep could mean a fall from a considerable distance, possibly hitting some pipes along the way. It didn't help that many of the salon's patrons left in a state where they could barely walk. Even in the short time she spent working with Doc Church she's seen at least two people with broken bones they got falling from a walkway. She could have used her pipboy's light but she was worried about draining the internal fusion battery - she hasn't seen a small battery like this anywhere in Megaton. In theory, the one she had would still last for years but she didn't want to take that chance.
There was someone outside the saloon smoking a cigarette. When she got closer she could see from the stocky, pot bellied frame and the long hair that it was Moriarty himself. Amy really wasn't in a mood to talk to him so tried to quietly walk past, but the walkway was too narrow for Moriarty not to notice her.
- "Hey, it's the girl from the Vault"
- "Amy"
- "Do you remember the job offer I had for you? Have you given it any more thought?"
- "No thank you" Amy has since learned exactly what Moriarty's job offer entailed.
- "God almighty, why are you making a face like I'm asking you to be Gob's personal ass wiper? You won't make easier caps in this town. Is everyone in your Vault so stuck up?"
- "No, just me. Excuse me" - Amy quickly opened the saloon door and stepped inside.
Unusually for so late in the evening there were only a few people inside - great, she wouldn't have to yell for others to be able to hear her. The light inside the saloon was dim as always - Moriarty was always stingy with fusion batteries. Gob was there but he was too absorbed in trying to get the radio to work to notice her.
Since she first met Gob, Amy learned that he was a 'ghoul'. It was a very strange disease some people got from exposure to radiation. Damage to skin that caused the sufferers to look like a walking corpse was the most obvious symptom but there was a whole range of extremely bizarre side effects. Some of them were actually beneficial - ghouls were much more tolerant to radiation - some people said they were even healed by it but Amy had trouble believing it. People also said that ghouls lived a lot longer than ordinary people. Some even said that some ghouls survived from before the war but that seemed like obvious folk tales to Amy. She had no idea how this could be possible with the kind of skin and muscle tissue damage these people had, then again it was a really strange disease. Amy has never read about anything like that.
- "Come on, work you piece of junk" Gob twisted the frequency knob, moved the antenna around and finally gave the radio a frustrated smack on the side. All to no avail, all you could hear was loud crackling of static.
- "It ain't the radio Gob. Their signal's been bad for weeks now" - Nova was there too.
- "Damn it." Gob finally noticed Amy and his eyes lit up "Oh hi Amy, didn't think you were coming in today. Hey, there was a merchant here earlier, Crazy Wolfgang. He's all right. You just missed him by a few minutes maybe. So anyway, I asked him about your Dad, but he said he didn't come from the same direction. He said he'd keep an eye out for him though, if he's heard anything."
- "Thanks Gob" smiled Amy.
- "There's lots of merchants come though here, one of them's got to know something. I'm sure you'll find your dad real soon." Gob leaned in closer "So, how's you day been?"
It wasn't an especially exciting day before the meeting with Wolfgang, all Amy got was a molerat. She tried to make it sound as interesting as she could. Gob always seemed to listen with baited breath though, from time to time saying things like "I wish I could shoot like that" and "Were you scared?" Anything that happened outside the saloon was probably exciting to Gob, thought Amy. Listening to Gob talk about his day, she could easily see why. Earlier Danny White and Skinny Tim nearly had a fight but it was broken up, then somebody that Gob didn't know, someone from outside the wall, threw up all over Billy Creel and he had to go home to change his clothes. In the end it all came down to the same thing - people came in, got drunk out of their skulls on the cheap and nasty moonshine that Moriarty's served and then left, or sometimes got carried out. Most of them treated Gob like garbage. He was living the same day over and over again and it was a really shitty day. Amy wanted to help but she wasn't sure how. She tried talking to Simms once but he told her he had bigger things to worry about.
Their conversation was interrupted by the radio. Some strange distorted sounds broke through the even hum of the static, eventually transforming into a man's voice
- "... so next time, spare a thought for the boys and girls from the Brotherhood of Steel, fighting the Good Fight and keeping the Wasteland safe. Well, until next time children. This is Three Dog, and you're listening to Galaxy News Radio, bringing you the truth no matter how much it hurts."
- "Damn it, I missed the whole broadcast."
- "This is what he listens to all day long." said Nova. "The music ain't bad. "
Amy's experience with radio broadcasts was limited to Overseer's announcements and motivational speeches in the Vault, so she wasn't a fan of radio at first. When she first heard Galaxy News Radio she loved it, there was music, the announcer sounded totally unlike the Overseer and there were news about things happening in the rest of the Wasteland, which was fascinating to her. Eventually she found that the station spent most of the time extolling the virtues of the Brotherhood of Steel and how they 'fought the Good Fight' - Amy was never really sure of what it meant exactly. As for the news from the rest of the Wasteland - the only kind of news seemed to be bad news. Another settlement got taken over by the Raiders, or a smaller one got overrun by hostile wildlife, a pack of Deathclaws has been spotted in some ruins so everyone should steer well clear of the area, and so on.
Still, Gob was completely in love with the station and was always frustrated when the radio couldn't pick it up, which seemed to happen a lot recently.
- "I wish I could leave this place and join the Brotherhood of Steel, so I could fight the Good Fight with them" said Gob wistfully.
Nova turned to Gob. "Don't even think about it hun. You remember how bad you got beat the last time you tried to do a runner?". Amy saw Gob wince. "For the likes of me and you, this here is all there is. Anyway, you don't even know what those Brotherhood guys are like"
- "You heard the radio, you know what they're like"
- "I ain't so sure they really go around being all noble and saving everyone's asses. Nobody is like that out there. Everyone's got some angle. With folks here, at least you know what their angle is."
- "But that's what they said on the radio. Why would Three Dog lie?" Gob seemed genuinely confused by the suggestion. Nova looked at Amy as if to say 'Do you see what I'm dealing with here?'.
A door opened and a man came in wearing a bandana. A second later Amy noticed that he had a makeshift eyepatch on top of his left eye.
- "Hey Billy, you changed your shirt?" asked Nova.
- "Yeah. Don't smell much better than before, but you know." said the man cheerfully.
Billy noticed Amy and his one eye lit up with interest. He walked over to her"
- "Hey looks like we've got a new face around here. Hi I'm Billy, Billy Creel. You new in town? How long have you been here?"
Amy introduced herself.
- "Ah I know who you are. You're the girl from the Vault! So is this what all of you in the Vault wear?" Billy looked at Amy's jumpsuit. "Damn, looks so new. Looks like it fits real well too. Not like the rags we're all wearing here" he smiled. "Hey, if you want someone to show you the town, I could always spare a bit of time. We've got ourselves a real nice town here. Strong walls, strong people and strong booze. Right?"
- "So Billy, how's Lucy doing?" asked Nova.
- "Lucy? Yeah, she's good, she's good. She's eating so much now, like every time I look she's eating something. She's eating more than me now, definitely. She keeps asking for seriously weird shit, some of it really disgusting. I figure though she knows what she needs, you know, like instincts? Maggie is helping a lot, she's been great."
Nova turned to Amy"Lucy is Billy's wife. When're you expecting your first, hun?"
"Should be in two - three months maybe" Billy beamed at Nova. Then turning to Amy "I come to this place every now and again just to unwind, you know, to have some fun."
The saloon was getting busier and louder now. Amy could still hear the others fine but to be heard she needed to raise her voice or outright yell. It felt uncomfortable. Gob now couldn't talk as much, more people were coming up to the bar and buying booze. Many of the patrons greeted Billy, most of them greeted Nova. Some of them were in no state to talk at all.
Amy saw one man pay in ammo instead of caps. Gob took it without batting an eye. Another man paid with several animal skins. Amy recognized them to be molerats, pretty badly damaged. He and Gob got into an argument about how many bottles of moonshine it was worth, the man wanted three, Gob was prepared to give him two. The man started yelling. Amy saw Gob flinch and back away from the man who was quite drunk and very angry but he still insisted on two bottles.
Eventually something of a queue formed behind the man. The patrons in the queue started yelling at the angry molerat hunter to hurry up. In the end, now outnumbered, he grudgingly accepted Gob's offer and shuffled away.
"Hey, maybe we'll go a whole day without a fight today" Nova leaned in towards Amy. Then she spotted someone and her face took a look of resigned weariness "or maybe not".
The man now approaching the bar stood out from the other patrons. He was wearing a leather armor. His skin looked to be a part of the armor, dark and leathery all the way up to the top of his bold head. His blue eyes looked at the world with hostility. Even in the sometimes overpowering stench inside of the saloon, his smell stood out.
The man ordered booze and sat at the bar. Amy decided to talk to him even though he didn't look too friendly. "Hi, I'm Amy" she introduced herself.
The man turned his head towards her. "Well look here, another Wasteland asshole. I don't give a fuck what your name is, OK? Get the fuck out of my face."
"Way to go Jericho, you've really showed that little girl you ain't scared of her." Billy Creel called from his bar stool, drawing out the words.
"I'm nineteen" said Amy quietly but nobody heard her. Jericho spun around to face Billy. "Are you calling me a coward? Hey, you wanna see something?"
"If it's your dick, I ain't interested" Billy snorted dismissively.
"Ever saw your own guts up close, you maggot? " Jericho stood up. He whipped a large knife from somewhere in his belt and holding it in front of him took a slow step forward. Billy Creel jumped from his stool, then took it by one of its legs and held it in front of him like a shield. They were now facing each other.
Jericho took several quick thrusts with his knife. He didn't put his full power in any of them and Creel blocked them, thought not without difficulty. In between the swipes and thrusts Jericho kept advancing, trying to back Billy into a corner.
Other people in the bar started to notice what was happening. The normal hum of conversation died down. Amy saw several people get up and come closer. She's heard voices that were at first confused but were getting more and more angry. Amy saw a man wearing a motorcycle helmet smash a bottle. He took it by the neck and advanced forward slowly, knees bent and hunched forward slightly. Five or six others were converging on Jericho, holding bar stools and bottles as clubs.
- "Leave him the fuck alone Jericho" Amy heard someone say. There were other calls, a lot less polite. Someone threw a bottle, it narrowly missed Amy's head and smashed into the corned or the bar, leaving a dark stain of spilled liquor on the counter. Jericho was now backing away, quickly looking around him, thrusting his knife in different directions to keep the others away.
- "Shit" said Nova, then stood on top of a bar stool and shouted
- "Jericho, do you want me to get Moriarty with a shotgun in here?"
- "So I can shove it up his fat ass? Go the fuck ahead" Jericho scowled.
- "Or I could get Simms and tell him you're picking fights with people. Again"
- "I'm not scared of Simms. Fuck him and fuck you all and fuck the watered down brahmin piss you serve here. I'm out of here." while delivering his angry retort Jericho was retreating towards the door. The motorcycle helmet man noticed this and stepped sideways, blocking Jericho's way out.
- "Oh no, we're all gonna miss you so much" said Nova deadpan. Then, straining her voice even more to make sure everyone's heard her. "All right everyone, Jericho is leaving"
- "Like hell he is" someone shouted back. The bottle and bar stool wielding Megaton citizens were converging on Jericho. He swiped his knife in a broad arch.
- "Guys, please"
Billy and the others reluctantly opened the way to the door. Stepping backwards and turning around constantly, Jericho backed away, then stepped through the door. A bottle smashed into the door a moment after it closed behind him.
Billy returned to the bar, sat down on a stool he used as a shield earlier and ordered another drink.
- "Well that could've gone worse" said Nova. Then she noticed Amy, who was shaken by the whole episode "Oh don't worry hun, Jericho's just being an asshole again".
"Who is he?" asked Amy. "Why is he so angry?"
"Well he's a raider, isn't he?" answered Nova. Then, seeing the look on Amy's face "Well, a former raider."
- "Yeah he's totally given up his raping and killing ways and settled in Megaton to live a nice and peaceful life. As you can see, right?" Billy fumed. "And seeing what a swell guy he is, Simms in his great wisdom lets him live here. And then, get this, he gives him a fucking house in Megaton!"
- "Simms said he helped in the siege a few years back. He said we wouldn't have held on without him." Nova didn't sound fully convinced of what she was saying herself.
- "Don't know what's up with Simms but everyone except him hates that fuck. How do we know he's not a raider spy? Pretending to be on our side, then at the right time he just opens the gates and lets the bastards right inside?"
- "Come on Billy, raiders don't do stuff like that"
- "Yeah, ain't going to accuse raiders of being smart" Billy smirked. "I'll tell you what though, if there is an attack or something, I bet you someone will accidentally shoot that asshole in the back of the head"
- "Oh come on hun"
- "Ain't saying it's gonna be me" shrugged Billy. "Just saying it's gonna happen".