Broken Roads

by HamstersaurusRex

A young woman raised in Vault 101 tries to understand the strange world she finds herself in and her place in it, together with her unusual friend.

13. Rivet City

- "This ... this is finally happening."

Amy was standing on the shore looking at the floating metal behemoth in front of her, savouring the moment. With every breath she drew in a lungful of the salty air and she could swear it was the sweetest air she ever tasted in her life. After a while she started walking towards the metal ladder that must have been the entrance to the giant ship.

Walking up the steps Amy felt the eiphoria she felt earlier start to dissipate. The familiar doubts were starting to creep in. So she was finally here. Was it all worth it? Amy walked to the end of the metal platform at the end of the stairs. She could see the metal drawbridge on the other side. There was a man standing there, dressed in combat armor and holding what looked like a plasma rifle. She waved to him to extend the drawbridge.

The man waved back. "Welcome to Rivet City. How did you get past the mutants? Allright, let me just open the drawb ..." He stopped abruptly, looking at Amy intently, then suddenly took a step back and raised his plasma rifle. "I'll not let you on this ship. Go back where you came from." There was now a great deal of hostility in his voice.

Amy stared at him open-mouthed. "I ... I think you're mistaking me for someone else. Please, I ..."

- "We both know what you are. I've been instructed to handle this peacefully but if you try anything at all, I will burn a hole in you. You will not get to her. Just go back."

Disbelieving, Amy shook her head. On instinct she raised her arms, thinking the gesture will calm the man, but as soon as she started the motion he dived into cover behind a metal column, his rifle still trained on her.

- "I don't understand, what are you afraid of?" Amy tried to sound appeasing. "Me?!"

- "We both know that appearances can be deceiving. Just. Go. Back."

Amy blinked. What just happened made no sense at all. Was the man insane? This was the only explanation she could find. All that she went through to get here, everything she's done, would now be scuppered by one lunatic? Amy felt her left cheek twitch slightly. No. She was getting on to that boat, no matter what. Sounds started to mute, movements were slowing and the cauldron of emotions Amy was feeling started to fizzle out, replaced by a familiar feeling of cold certainty. Amy's hand was moving down towards her 10 mm when she shook her head. This wasn't right. She wanted to help the people living on this boat, massacring their guards would not be a good start. Even if she killed this man, she still needed to get on board the ship, the drawbridge was still up. She could to swim to the ship, then try to climb up the broken section towards the top part. But then more guards could come ... No, she had to try to talk the man out of whatever madness posessed him.

- "Please, I came here to do something important. I don't understand why ... you're doing this. But I mean you no harm."

It must have been something about her tone of voice, but the man poked his head from out of the cover. Amy focused her vision on his face. It was tense, a picture of total concentration, but there was now a hint of doubt in his eyes.

- "OK then. Why did you come here?"

Amy told him about the passage through the metro ruins.

- "You expect me to believe that?" he man scoffed. "You'd need a small army to create a passage like that."

- "Oh yes, there was a team. A lot of people" Amy lied. "They stayed behind."

The man looked at her for some time, his expression now uncertain. He then stepped out of the cover, though still aiming his rifle at Amy.

- "OK. Raise your hands and keep them behind your head. I will lower the bridge and you can walk across, slowly. Do not make me regret it."

Amy felt relief. She didn't feel great with the crazy guard pointing his rifle at her, but at least she was getting on board the ship.

Rivet City was a strange place. Amy was already used to narrow corridors with hatches in the walls leading to tiny claustrophobic rooms - it reminded her of the Vault. What she found really hard to get used to was the ground constantly moving under her feet. How could people live like this? The ever-present smell of the sea, which she could feel even inside cabins was another thing that was hard to get used to.

It was also really crowded. Amy never saw so many people in one place - the old ship could clearly hold many times more people than the Vault. At present there seemed to be even more people here than it was designed to hold. Most of them seemed to be aimlessly milling about on the upper decks, or getting drunk down in The Muddy Rudder until they had no more caps to spend. There was a palpable atmosphere of fear here, Amy could almost smell it, as easily as the salty sea air.

Everyone she approached had no interest in her story. Not everyone called her crazy out loud but everyone was thinking it. The kindest person she met was a man called Seagrave Holmes. He asked her about Megaton and listened attentively to her answers but when she started talking about the passage the look of interest on his face was replaced by pity. "Ah, a route through the underground metro passages. That would be nice, wouldn't it? It was really nice talking to you but there's repairs that need doing, I've got to get going now. So many things to do..." He broke eye contact immediately and hurried down to a lower deck.

Amy had to fight a rising sense of panic. Was it really possible that everything she's done was all for nothing, because no one would listen to her? She wanted to scream at these people, let them know that they were the ones being crazy here. She had to keep telling herself that if she wanted to be taken seriously that wouldn't help her cause at all. To add to everything, the guard who wanted to keep her from the ship seemed to be watching her. From time to time she could see him, just about, from a corner of her eye, lurking in the background before he disappeared from vision. He was rather good at being discrete, but not enough for her not to notice. At least lately she was sure he wasn't there anymore. Perhaps he no longer thought her a threat. Amy still had no idea why he would think that in the first place, but at this point she had to take any win she could get.

A name she kept hearing again and again was 'Doctor Lee'. It didn't sound like she was one of the leaders of this place, but clearly she was someone important here and Amy was running out of options. From what the people here told her, Doctor Lee spent all her time in Hydroponics.

It took a while for Amy to find Hydroponics. When she did find it, it was just a metal door at the end of a corridor, completely identical to every other door in this place. There was no label above it - apparently at the insistence of Dr. Li, so that people wouldn't bother her and interrupt her work. Bothering Dr. Li and interrupting her work is exactly what Amy was planning to do, so she felt a little nervous. It had to be done, she told herself. After a moment's hesitation, Amy opened a door and stepped inside.

The first thing Amy noticed was the air. It was warm and humid and had a strange, particular smell to it - 'earthy' was the best way she could describe it. Hydroponics occupied a large cabin, bigger than any other Amy has seen on this giant pre-war ship, and this space was completely filled with plants. Amy has never in her life seen any place so dominated by the color green. Amy picked up another, different smell. It was ... brahmin manure? A lot of it too. Why? There was yet another smell, something chemical.

Amy found Dr. Madison Lee in the middle of the space, holding a leaf of a plant with long, slender fingers and staring at it intently. She was rather tall and thin, perhaps around Sheriff Simms' age There was something about her facial features that reminded Amy of her own, a little bit. Watching her examine the leaves of the plants, Amy suddenly got a feeling that there was something odd about her movements. They seemed a little stiff somehow. Perhaps she was just tired after a long day. Whatever the woman was working on occupied her attention completely, so Amy had to cough to be noticed. Madison Lee looked up, irritation evident on her face.

- "Goood god, how many times do I have to tell ..." she paused, then stared at Amy's face. There was now uncertainty in her expression. "You look familiar but ... don't think I've seen you here before. Have you just arrived in Rivet City? Was there something you wanted from me?"

- "Oh I'm from Megaton. I'm here because ..."

There was a flash of intensity in the older woman's eyes. "Megaton, that's right next to ... you've come a long way. So, have you lived in Megaton all your life? Or, have you lived somewhere before that?"

Amy squinted her eyes a little at the strange question, but answered. "As it happens, I was born in a Vault. Or at least I grew up in a Vault. So, the reason why ..."

The intensity in the woman's eyes increased "Which Vault?"

"Vault 101, not that it's important" Amy shrugged. She's been warned about Dr. Lee being a little eccentric.

- "I see." Dr Lee nodded slowly, her eyes now fixed on Amy. "My name is Madison Lee, I imagine you've heard of me. And what about you?" her eyes burrowed into Amy's face. "What is your name?"

- "Amy."

Doctor Lee turned around, took a couple of uncertain steps, then turned back towards Amy. She clasped her hands, then let them hang by her sides in what seemed like a deliberate gesture. It was hard to read her expression but she seemed ... agitated? She stared at Amy's face, her eyes seemingly studying every square inch of it. What a strange woman.

- "It's nice to meet you. So, Amy from Vault 101" Dr Lee continued. "You are a long way from home. Why have you left the Vault? What made you come all the way to Rivet City? And where is your ... where are your parents?"

- "My parents? 're both dead."

For a brief moment Doctor Lee's face looked shocked, horrified, her mouth hanging open. Straight after her face regained the usual throughtful expression, though concern was now evident on it. "Oh my. Both of them? That's terrible. How did they die?"

- "I'd rather not talk about it."

- "I'm sorry, but please, I'm ... curious."

Amy had to stop herself from scowling "Look, you ..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "OK. My mother died when I was really young, I never knew her." she saw Doctor Lee nod. "Father left the Vault uhm, I think several months ago. I don't know why, but because of that I got kicked out of the Vault too. That probably answers your next question." Amy paused, then looked away from Dr. Lee. "He joined a caravan going somewhere West. It got ambushed by Raiders."

It looked like Doctor Lee was unsteady on her feet for a second. She then turned around away from Amy, walked over to an especially tall plant and started tending to it. 'She starts off all nosy about my family and then she just ignores me and goes back to her work? Really?' thought Amy irritatedly. She waited for Doctor Lee to finish her work and continue the conversation. Oddly, watching Doctor Lee, it really looked like she wasn't doing anything useful, just randomly stroking the large thick leaves of the plant.

After what seemed like a really long time Doctor Lee turned back to face Amy. It immediately struck Amy how much her expression has changed, all kinds of emotions now visible on her face. She really seemed to have been moved by the things that Amy told her. Strange, she thought. She knew her story wasn't really unusual here in the Wasteland, probably half the people here in Rivet City could have told Doctor Lee a tale that was just as sad, probably much sadder. She probably spent all her time down here in Hydroponics and didn't really know what went on in the world outside, thought Amy.

Doctor Lee shook her head in a forlorn gesture. "Oh God. What a horrible world we live in. Human life, the most complex and miraculous thing in the known universe is snuffed out for nothing. The most precious thing is extinguished for a few bottlecaps. There are so few of us left after the War, and still all we do is kill each other." She paused, looking somewhere into space.

- "You say that life is precious." Amy wasn't aware of the grimace that settled on her face. "But is that really true for everyone out there? Raiders, all the other scum. Wouldn't the world be better if they were all dead?"

Doctor Lee stared at Amy with what looked like concern. "Amy, you ... I can only imagine the things you've experienced out there in the Wasteland. But you can't think this way. If you let hate take over like that, it'll consume you. This isn't what your parents would have wanted for you."

- "What the fuck do you know about my parents?" Amy's voice rose almost to a shout. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ..." This conversation really wasn't going the way she was expecting to.

- "No, no, you're right." Doctor Lee's expression was hard to read. "We've only just met, and you've come all the way from Vault 101. Why would I know anything at all about your parents? But, I'd like to know more about you and about them. You know, I spend all day here, tending to plants. I don't get to talk to many people. There are a few things I need to do now, but maybe you could come back here in the evening? And then we could really talk."

- "Um, I ... OK, can come back later. If you want to."

- "Good. There is a lot we could talk about." Doctor Lee smiled slightly. "I'm sorry, you probably came to ask me about something else and I've completely sidetracked you."

Amy told her about the passage from Megaton.

- "That sounds really dangerous." Madison Lee sounded worried. "What made you decide to do something like this?"

- "It was right after I found out that ..."

- "Ah, I understand" Doctor Lee nodded. "Still, this could be very useful right now. I don't know how much you've heard about this, but the creatures they call supermutants have recently surged out of the DC ruins and overrun much of the Capital Wasteland. Trade has all but stopped, also from what I've heard some smaller settlements got destroyed completely or abandoned." Seeing Amy's expression she quickly added "I'm sure your Megaton is fine, it's too far away from DC ruins."

- "It has a wall as well." said Amy.

- "Yes, defenses help. Here in Rivet City, being so close to the DC ruins, we've been badly hit. Most of the people here used to live in what used to be the harbor, on the land surrounding the carrier. The ship itself was used as a temporary base of operations. Now most people have abandoned their old homes and live on the ship itself. It's cramped and uncomfortable but safe. Food is becoming a problem however, we have mirelurks and fish but with so many people living here the supplies are getting stretched pretty thin. I do my best to grow vegetables here." Doctor Lee moved her hand in a circular motion.

- "You know, when I told you about how I cleared the underground passage from Megaton, I'm a bit surprised you believed me so easily."

- "Sometimes people have unexpected talents." Doctor Lee's expression was odd but inscrutable. "I think you have several of them."

- "You're the first who believed me. Everyone else I've talked to here think I'm playing some strange joke or went mad. I was hoping you could help me." Amy looked at Doctor Lee hopefully. "Maybe you could talk to the leaders of this place, help convince them that I'm not crazy and the passage I've made is safe to use. I was told you're an important person here."

Doctor Lee smirked dismissively. "Important? Hardly. Not for the people in charge. I'm an annoyance, tolerated because the food I grow here is badly needed, especially now, but no more than that. Formally, the leader here is Bannon, I suppose. He's a stupid preening buffoon, he's not going to listen to you. The people really in power ... they're not going to listen either."

- "But maybe you could talk to them?"

There was an expression of frustration on Doctor Lee's face. "You see, I can't talk to authority figures. I just end up agreeing with whatever they say. It's a weakness of mine. I can't help you there I'm afraid." she shook her head. "No, what you need to do is talk to the traders directly. You'll find many of them down in the market, stuck here waiting for it to become safe enough to leave. You'll still have a hard time convincing them. People that know about the metro ruins are terrified of them. But maybe some of the traders might be desperate enough to believe you. If you then show them the route they will tell others that it's safe."

- "That sounds like a good idea. Worth a try. Thank you" Amy nodded and turned towards the door.

- "You will come back here later, yes?" Doctor Lee asked.

- "Yes, I'll do that." Just before leaving, she turned around.

- "They call you Doctor Lee, but you say you spend most of your time growing food. How do you find the time to treat the people here as well? With so many people living here, you must have a lot of patients."

- "Oh, I'm not that kind of doctor. I only know the absolute basics of medicine really. It's an academic title."

- "Academic?"

- "It's, um ..." Doctor Lee's looked at Amy uncertainly. "Let's just say it's a sort of a nickname."

- "Oh OK." Amy paused. "My father used to be a doctor. I know a bit of medicine as well."

Doctor Lee just nodded, slowly.

Just outside the hydroponics cabin, Amy stopped and leant on the wall. She needed a minute to think about the strange conversation she just had. The subtle but noticeable movement of the floor under her feet was distracting, she was probably never going to get used to it.

- "I distrust this woman." said Shroud. "She is harbouring many secrets."

- "Of course she has secrets." Amy answered quietly. "We've only just met, she wasn't going to tell me everything about her life. I didn't tell her everything about mine, either. She sure was interested in it though."

- "You know there's more to it than that. We should be weary of this mightily mysterious matriarch."

- "Why? As far as I can see, she is just someone who grows food here. Just like farmers back in Megaton. I almost feel like we have some kind of connection. Even though I've never met her before." Amy looked thoughtfully at the low ceiling. "I was mean to her. I didn't need to be. Recently I just ... I don't know." Amy sighed quietly. "Even after that, she's been nicer to me than anyone else in this place. When people here say she only cares about her plants, they're wrong. And you're just being paranoid."

She saw a man pass her in the narrow corridor. He glanced at her, squinting one eye a little, but then carried on walking. People talking to themselves and otherwise acting crazy was a common thing in the Wasteland, not worth paying any mind to.

When Amy got to the market, it was a lot emptier than she expected. A number of merchants were milling around, but the people interested in their wares seemed few and far between. Well, at least that would mean they wouldn't be too busy to talk to her.

Amy looked around, deciding which traders she would talk to. All kinds of different faces, but all looking bored or frustrated. Behind one of the stands she saw a burly man with a handlebar moustache, playing Five Finger Fillet on his counter with a combat knife. Behind another, there was a kid, barely taller than the stand itself, so you could only see his head. He looked at Amy with an amusingly serious expression, his eyebrows, unusually thick for a kid so small drawn together. Then suddenly, she thought she caught a glance of a familiar face. At the back of the market, near the corner, two men were talking to each other behind a stand. One of them was Crazy Wolfgang. He wore the same calm, slightly melancholic and bored expression he always did.

This was a stroke of luck. She barely knew him, but it was still better than talking to complete strangers. Amy approached their stand.

- "Hold on Ray, I think I may have a customer. Greetings and welcome to ... Oh, Amy, right?"

Amy smiled. "Hi Wolfgang. I'm surprised to find you here."

- "I can definitely say the same. This here is Ray, another merchant, he's selling pre-war decorations mostly. " The short man next to Wolfgang nodded at Amy. "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." Wolfgang added.

- "Thank you." Amy nodded.

- "Moira was really worried about you. You left so suddenly, no one knew where. At one point she was worried that you died somewhere out there and it was her fault, because she didn't break the news gently enough."

- "Oh. Oh god. There was just this thing I felt like ... "

- "Don't worry, in the end she decided that you were going to come back and tell her all about where you've been and your adventures. " The corners of Wolfgang's mouth went up slightly. "She is like that, always determined to believe that things will work out for the best. Looks like this time she was right."

- "When you're back in Megaton, can you tell her that you've met me and that I'm OK?"

Crazy Wolfgang sighed almost imperceptibly. "I would love to do that but right now I have no idea when I'll get a chance. These monsters, supermutants they call them, have completely overrun most places around the DC ruins. It's become too dangerous to travel anywhere. So we're all stuck here, waiting things to be safe enough to leave, trying to sell our wares. Talking of which " Wolfgang pointed both his hands towards the stall in front of him "Welcome, sir or madam, to Crazy Wolfgang's Traveling Junk Store! The Depot of Detritus, the Shop of Slop, and the Caravan of Crap!"

Amy looked at him uncertainly. Wolfgang sighed.

- "What I'm saying is, do you want to buy some junk?"

- "No, thank you."

The trader called Ray smirked "Aww, you've almost sold some of your shit."

Wolfgang turned back to him "It's not a competition Ray. We're all in the same giant pre-war boat of misery here."

Amy looked at Wolfgang hopefully. "Actually about that. I was hoping you could help me. Or, rather, we could help each other."

- "Yes?" Wolfgang looked at Amy. She told him about the passage to Megaton through the metro ruins. In the end, Wolfgang's expression seemed to grow a bit more melancholic. The trader called Ray turned towards Wolfgang.

- "And you call yourself 'Crazy Wolfgang'. Pshah." He scoffed. "Now this right here." he pointed at Amy. "That is crazy."

- "I'll have you know I'm the craziest Wolfgang in the entire Wasteland." Wolfgang turned towards Amy. "But Ray has a point. Moira told me all kinds of hard to belive stuff about you. But this ... this is on a whole other level." He paused "You know, I've been down to metro ruins. Once. Let's just say the place wasn't very welcoming."

- "I know it's hard to believe but, please, you've got to trust me. I, um, found a safe passage." Amy realised she sounded almost pleading. "What have you got to lose?"

- "Other than my life? I guess not a whole lot."

Wolfgang looked off into the distance. His face was as hard to read as every but he seemed to be weighing something up. After some time, he looked at Amy "OK, let's give this a try."

Ray's eyes grew larger. "OK, man, I take it all back. You're totally crazy."

- "Thank you." nodded Wolfgang. "While I'm out, can you look after my stuff, make sure no one takes anything?"

- "Oh, I don't know, it'll be so hard with everyone here so desperate to lay their hands on some of your crap. You know, with the huge queue of people to your stall every single day."

- "Ah, I'm really going to miss your charming personality when I'm down there."

- "Not for long you won't." Ray stepped out from behind his stall and took several steps closer to Woldgang's. "Come on man. I know you're bored as hell here and I guess you're trying to humour this girl, but you'll die down there. Together with her. And no one will ever find your bones, 'cause nobody else is dumb enough to go down to the fucking metro ruins."

Corners of Wolfgang's mouth went up slightly. "Don't worry, I'll scurry back like a radroach at the first sign of danger."

- "See you back in a couple of hours then." Ray shook his head.

- "Um, I promised to see someone before I leave here." said Amy.

- "OK, sure, it's better if we leave in the morning." nodded Wolfgang. "Good to get a good night's sleep before setting off."

Amy came to see Doctor Lee later, as she promised. She really wasn't sure why the woman was so interested in talking to her. Maybe it was like she said, she spent all day in Hydroponics, perhaps she just got lonely. But with so many people in Rivet City, surely she could have found someone to talk to. From what Amy has heard, Doctor Lee had a reputation as someone who had very little interest in talking to people. All the more strange that she she took such a liking to Amy.

They ended up talking well into the night. At first Amy felt reluctant to tell this strange woman anything, but as the evening went on she felt more and more at ease with her. She ended up telling her about her life in the Vault, the escape to Megaton, adjusting to life there. She even told her a little about Grayditch and the storming of Springvale Elementary, although she was very light on details. She ended with her arrival in Rivet City and the guard who didn't want to let her in.

- "Oh, that was Harkness. I'm really sorry, that must have been a very poor first impression of our settlement."

- "What's his problem? What was he afraid of?"

Doctor Lee sighed. "Some time ago someone very dangerous came on board this ship. He was after me. Harkness managed to stop him, with great difficulty. It was horrible."

Amy looked at Doctor Lee uncertainly "Why would this dangerous man be after you?"

- "Yes that doesn't make a lot of sense, does it?" Doctor Lee looked at Amy thoughtfully. "I guess he was after something else, I just got in the way."

- "But what does that have to do with me?"

- "You must have reminded Harkness of ... that person." Doctor Lee gave a brisk shake of the head. "You know what, don't worry about Harkness. I'll talk to him, tell him that you're a friend."

- "He'll believe you?"

- "I'm certain he will" reassured Dr. Lee. "I'm sure he already doesn't see you as a threat, otherwise he'd never let you on board. Don't worry about him" she repeated "I'll take care of it."

- "Thanks."

- "So now you're done with this project of yours, you'll go somewhere safe, right? Back to your Megaton. Or " there was something odd about Doctor Lee's tone now "you could stay here in Rivet City. Your Vault education would definitely be useful here."

- "Thank you" answered Amy, somewhat surprised "but I have friends in Megaton. I have a house there. Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm going to do now. I may try to find a passage to another settlement."

- "There is something inside you that drives you to do these things, isn't there?" Amy thought she could hear some sadness in Doctor Lee's voice. "Just promise you'll try to be safe, OK?"

- "Yes, absolutely"

- "Good" Doctor Lee sighed. "I have something I want to give you. Just wait here, I'll get it." She went somewhere to the back of the Hydroponics area. It's odd, thought Amy watching her step between the rows of plants. She would expect her walk to be like her personality, brisk and purposeful. Instead, it was hesitant, stooping, almost shuffling. As if carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. A little later Doctor Lee returned, holding a small plastic bottle in her hands.

- "Here, this should help your headaches." Amy took the bottle, immediately recognising the writing but having trouble believing what she was seeing. These were headache pills, just like the ones she used to have in the Vault.

- "Wow. Where did you get these?"

- "A merchant sold them to me a while ago. He said he got them from a Vault, somewhere in the Commonwealth, he said. I have headaches sometimes, but it sounds like yours are much worse."

Amy took the pills in her hand, holding the bottle carefully, as if afraid to crush it. She rotated it slowly, examining the worn out pre-war text. She then looked back at Doctor Lee. "Thank you. I mean ... But, are you sure? You said you had headaches yourself."

- "I never do anything I'm not sure of." Doctor Lee's voice had just a hint of sternness. "Like I said, I do get them from time to time, but it sounds like yours are much worse. Take them. And ..." her tone of voice has suddenly become noticeably softer. "If in your travels you find yourself near Rivet City... You know, now that your passage is completed."

- "Of course." smiled Amy. "If I'm nearby, I'll come and visit you."

The corners of Doctor Lee's mouth went up slightly. By now Amy realised that this was the closest she ever got to a smile. "Good, good. Just be careful out there, OK?"

Amy went back to the market the first thing in the morning. After the long conversation with Doctor Lee she felt better, calmer. It was good to talk to someone about everything. She was worried that while she was gone Wolfgang's friend talked him out of going with her, or if he reconsidered his decision himself, but she found him waiting for her, near the entrance to the market, already packed.

They got to the station entrance without problems. It was so early the sun's disk has not yet started rising above the horizon, it was hard to see anything in the twilight, but the crisply cold morning air carried no sounds that could signal danger. It was almost completely quiet, except the sound of the sea and of their footsteps. The silence was pleasant, comforting. Not unnerving and opressive, like it sometimes could be underground.

Amy descended the steps going downstairs, then paused when she could no longer hear Wolfgang behind her. When she looked back, she was him standing on the top step, staring into space.

- "Everything OK?" she asked.

- "Yes. Fine." Wolfgang responded after a second.

- "You need a rest? It's better to stop downstairs."

- "No, no, I don't need a rest." Wolfgang sighed quietly. "It's fine. Let's do this. He turned to look at Amy for a second, his usual expression still there. "Let's see if this goes better then last time."

- "What happened last time?"

Wolfgang just made a quick motion with his hand, as if shaking something off, and started walking down the concrete steps.

They were walking through a particularly dark section of a tunnel, the only light came from Wolfgang's pre-war flashlight. Amy almost tripped when she stepped awkwardly on a piece of rubble. She turned to Wolfgang

- "Watch your step here. There's a lot of rubble on the floor, there's holes as well."

Just as Wolfgang nodded, Amy heard noises. Hissing, grunting and shuffling of bare feet on broken concrete that she's become so familiar with now. For a briefest moment she felt a mixture of confusion, anger and a hint of fear before her mind snapped into the calm of battle trance.

'Estimated number of hostiles - six, number of allies - one, time before hostiles reach melee range - 8.4 seconds.'

She took down two ferals immediately. In the same time, Wolfgang got one of them. Of the remaining three, two went after her, while one run towards Wolfgang. He shot at the ghoul, but this time missed.

'To hit chance affected by light level. Optimal strategy - shoot nearest hostile in the head, to hit chance - 92.7% . Estimated ally survival probability - 20 to 45%.'

This was unacceptably low - the thought flashed in Amy's mind. She turned and shot the ghoul heading for Wolfgang, then dived to the left as the last two ghouls lunged for her at the same time.

A dull, barely noticeable feeling flashed in Amy's mind as she registered the damage to her shoulder when she hit it against a block of concrete. The two ghouls collided when they landed in the spot where she used to be a fraction of a second ago. She rolled over and shot one of them. The second got ready to lunge again but was interrupted by Wolfgang's shot hitting it in the leg. It fell to the ground, then just as it started to get up its head snapped back, Amy's shot hitting it between the eyes.

'All hostiles eliminated.'

Amy looked around, but there was no sign of any more ferals. The corridor was again quiet and dark, but the silence no longer felt comforting and peaceful like before. She turned around to look at Wolfgang. He was still holding his gun out, throwing quick glances around him.

- "I think that's all of them. Are you OK?"

- "Yes, they didn't get to me." Wolfgang lowered his gun, slowly and seemingly reluctantly. He looked at Amy. "When Moira was telling me about you, I thought she was exaggerating." The left corner of his mouth went up slightly. "To be honest, I thought she was outright making things up".

Amy looked around. "I can't hear any others, but we should be careful. You should keep your gun at the ready just in case."

- "Oh, that I will." Wolfgang nodded. Then he said quietly "I wouldn't exactly call this safe".

The simple remark hit Amy like a punch to the gut. She turned to look at Wolfgang, her mouth slightly open, then back at the passageway the ghouls came from, then back at Wolfgang. "I'm ... I don't know where ... " she turned to look at the corridor again. "I've checked all the corridors, all the doors ... Maybe a part of the wall collapsed? I ..."

Wolfgang walked up to her and she felt his hand touch her shoulder gently. "It's OK. I'm sorry. Taking a caravan anywhere is always dangerous. I always have at least two guards with me, sometimes more, depends where I'm going. Of course, now you'd need an army of guards to run a caravan anywhere. So far, this is still a hell of a lot safer than up top."

- "I need to find where they came from. Can you ... " Amy paused. "Can you help me look for the breach? " She looked at Wolfgang.

- "Of course I will. Don't worry, we'll find it". Wolfgang took his arm off Amy's shoulder. "I think it's better if you lead the way. I'll be right behind you."

Moving slowly through the narrow passageway, they eventually emerged on the other side, in a tunnel. Amy heard the movement ahead almost immediately. She raised her arm to warn Wolfgang behind her, then drew her gun and started walking forward. She could now clearly recognise the noise she was hearing as shuffling of bare feet on concrete. Amy could hear the creature sniffing the stale air of the underground station. Several slow deliberate steps forward and Amy saw the feral ghoul, at about the same moment that it saw her. It growled and drew back, readying for a lunge, but a split second before it could jump Amy took it down with a clean shot to the head.

The sound of the gunshot seemed deafening but immediately after there was a complete silence. Amy waited for one or two minutes, then, when she was certain that she couldn't hear any noise, turned her pipboy light on.

They found the breach in the wall soon after. A section of the wall collapsed, opening a passage to a large room behind it. Beyond that, Amy could very faintly hear grunting noises. She turned towards Wolfgang and pointed at the breach. He moved closer to her and whispered "Could they really get through there?"

- "I don't think they can hear us here." Amy answered "But they can crawl through." She looked at the breach in the wall intently. "We need to fill that gap."

- "Dynamite would do the trick." Wolfgang offered.

Amy shook her head vehemently. "No. No more explosives"

Wolfgang raised an eyebrow slightly but then nodded. "You're probably right. It would just as likely bring the whole tunnel down on our heads. Not that it matters, we don't have any." He looked around. "We can also fill the breach the old-fashioned way. No shortage of rubble down here."

They ended up carrying large slabs of concrete to fill the hole in the wall. The collapsed wall left a pile of rubble next to the breach but Amy wanted larger slabs, so they would be less likely to fall out. She was worried that all the noise they were making would attract more ferals but they didn't seem interested. Once a single ghoul started crawling in their direction. Amy was afraid she would have to shoot it and the sound of the gunshot would attract more, but halfway through the ghoul stopped, then crawled back. What made it do that, wondered Amy? Were there scraps of its former human intelligence that told it that the noise ahead meant trouble, or was it pure animal instinct? The feral wasn't an 'it' Amy told herself. It was a he or a she. The thought felt right at first, but Amy immediately felt doubts. She could see no evidence of any intelligent behavior in any ferals she run into. In truth they seemed even more mindlessly aggressive than most actual animals she encountered in the Wasteland. These things were an 'it'.

It took a long time, but in the end together with Wolfgang they filled the hole, as best they could. They sat down to rest nearby.

- "Pfffffft" Wolfgang puffed his cheeks slightly. He took a drink from his canteen, then offered it to Amy. She wiped her face, took a large swig from the canteen and handed it back to Wolfgang.

- "Do you think it'll hold?" he jerked his head towards the filled breach.

- "I think so." Amy nodded, still out of breath. "These things won't try to clear the rubble on purpose. They'll just go somewhere else."

- "Let's hope it doesn't collapse on its own." Seeing Amy's worried glance at the wall, he quickly added "It shouldn't. We made it stable enough." He looked at Amy. "You're stronger than you look."

- "I've had a lot of practice. Some of the collapsed tunnel sections I pretty much had to dig out by hand. At first I didn't even have a shovel."

- "This means a lot to you, doesn't it?" there was a hint of curiosity in Wolfgang's expression.

- "Yes. I'm ... yes it does."

After some minutes of silence, Amy asked "So, how did you meet Moira?"

- "Ah" Wolfgang carefully put the canteen down and looked somewhere above Amy's head. "It was near that place ... what was it called? On the way there were some ... "

- "Ruined buildings?" smirked Amy.

- "Wow, however did you guess that." Wolfgang sighed. "Anyway, it was in scavenger territory. She was taking her caravan to Megaton, and one of her brahmin fell ill, so the caravan stopped. I was taking my own caravan to Megaton as well, so we ended up travelling together." A light smile almost formed on Wolfgang's lips, his eyes closed a little. "We ended up running trade together after that. We've gone to just about every corner of the Wasteland. Ah, those were the days."

- "But Moira settled in Megaton."

- "Yeah, after the ..." Wolfgang threw a quick glance at Amy. "You don't know about that?"

- "About what?"

Wolfgang considered. "In that case I shouldn't tell you. Moira will tell you herself if she feels like it. Just don't push her into it, OK?"

Amy nodded her agreement.

"So, she settled in Megaton. I thought this would be just a temporary thing, until she feels better, but it's not looking that way now. " He looked off into distance "I'm proud of her, you know. She's done really well for herself. I just wish things didn't turn out that way."

- "Can't you just settle in Megaton too?" asked Amy.

- "Not you as well." Wolfgang sighed. "What would I do there? I'm no shopkeeper. Or hunter. Or farmer. The only thing I am is a trader. And a trader stuck in one place without a caravan is a sad thing indeed." Wolfgang rested his chin on the palm of his hand."I would be like some piece of Old World junk I sell that even Lesko can't figure out how to make any use of."

- "You know, when I was sixteen, I was so certain I was going to be a doctor for the rest of my life." Amy said "I just couldn't imagine doing anything else. But it looks like life had other plans for me." she smiled, trying to keep any sadness out of that smile. "And it turned out there were ... other things I was good at. So, I'm sure there are all kinds of things you could do in Megaton."

"Thank you" Wolfgang sighed again "but I just don't share your certainty. And, I don't want to do anything else." Amy felt like she was now hearing some intensity in his normally languid, even toned voice. "You know, when I'm out there, just me and my Elise, nobody else around, just the road in front of me and the wind in my face ... there is nothing else like it. Especially if I'm going to a place I've never been to, not knowing what's waiting for me there..." he looked Amy in the eyes. "There are dangers, sure. But, if you can look past all the things that want to make you their dinner, and all the death and destruction ... There is beauty in this world. It's a sad, broken kind of beauty, but it's there. I thought me and Moira could experience it together. But, like you say, life had other plans."

Amy looked at Wolfgang, surprise in her eyes and her mouth spreading in a broad grin. "Wow. I'd never have guessed it, but you're an adventurer."

- "All right, now you're making me sound like an idiot."

- "Oh no, not at all" Amy shook her head. She smirked slightly "I know someone who would really understand you."

- "Who?"

- "Oh, it doesn't matter." Amy said quickly. "Not important". She looked at Wolfgang "I'm just saying, you have to work something out with Moira. I've seen you together, you're ... you're good together. You can't waste something like this."

- "Yes, you're right of course." Wolfgang looked at the floor briefly. "We'll work something out."

They did not run into any more ferals the rest of the way back. It took them only three days - completely insane, considering how long it took Amy to make that passage. On the way they talked about Wolfgang's travels, in turn Amy told him a bit about her life in the Vault. They didn't talk much on the last day. Amy was just tired, while Wolfgang seemed to be lost in thoughts of his own.

The rusted chain gate opened with a crreaking sound that was now very familiar to Amy. It was cold but the sun was shining brightly in the clear sky, making her squint her eyes. A bit like when she first left the Vault, Amy thought. She cautiously went up the steps, all the while scanning the surroundings for potential threats. She heard a distant sound of something splashing in the water, but otherwise it was totally quiet.

She heard the sound of Wolfgang's footsteps behind her and glanced at him. Wolfgang was standing at the top of the stairs, looking around him. His expression was hard to read as always but right now it looked like disbelief.

- "I know this place. We call it 'Flooded Metro'. This" - he pointed at a rusty shack up ahead - " is Wilhelm's Warf. We're actually here." he turned to Amy. "Your tunnel. It works."

Amy grimaced. "The ferals that attacked us ..."

Wolfgang took a step towards Amy. "Hey, I've told you, a trader can never expect complete safety. But we're here now. We can have trade again, at least between Megaton and Rivet City."

Amy fought to keep all the emotions that were filling her chest under control, but she allowed herself to smile cautiously. "Wolfgang, will you come back to Rivet City and tell the others ?"

- "Absolutely. I'll stay in Megaton for a bit, I really need a rest right now, and I haven't seen Moira for so long."

- "Oh yes of course." Amy nodded frantically. "I'm sorry."

- "But right afterwards I'm heading back. We'll need to get people to look for other breaches in the walls. We'll want to prop up some of the sections, make sure they don't collapse. Maybe make them wide enough to get a brahmin through ... " Wolfgang looked off into the distance. "There is a lot we could do later. But this, yeah. This is happening."

News always travelled fast in Megaton but it seems like it was even faster now. Before they got to the town gate, it opened with a screech and Moira came running through.

With a cry of "Wolfie!" she almost jumped on Crazy Wolfgang. Amy suddenly felt like she was intruding on something and turned away. After some time, it was her turn - Moira hugged her.

- "I told them you'll be back! They all said that you got yourself killed, but I told them you'll be fine."

- "Who thought I was dead?" asked Amy

- "Oh, just Moriarty and Simms and, well, most other folks in Megaton. Most everyone else, really. But I knew they were all wrong and you're fine. But" the beaming smile on Moira's face was still there, but there was now a questioning look in her eyes. "why didn't you tell anyone you'd be gone that long? You know, I thought that when I told you ... I was wondering if it was my fault that you left, that maybe I should have said something ..."

Amy felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. "Oh god I'm sorry. I didn't know how long I'd be gone. And I was ... I'm just ... it was something I needed to do, OK? I But I'm really sorry."

- "You're here now, that's the important thing. Billy will be real happy to hear it. And Lucie. Oh, and you can meet little Katie, their newborn."

- "Oh, of course." Amy paused, then muttered quietly "God, I've been away for so long." She then asked with a slight concern in her voice "And Lucie, is she OK?"

- "She's fine, absolutely fine. She's doing great." Moira reassured. "But ... where were you all this time? Just exploring the Wasteland? It's so dangerous now."

Before Amy could answer, Wolfgang stepped forward. "What Amy here was doing is reopening the trade route between Megaton and Rivet City. You know, no big deal."

Moira looked at him with a hint of confusion in her expression. "But that area is overrun with supermutants. We've had no caravans here for months, it's become too dangerous to travel that area." She suddenly stared at Amy open-mouthed. "You didn't kill all the ...?"

- "Oh, no, no I didn't" Amy shook her head and laughed. "I, um, can defend myself but there are limits to it. I've run into these things, they're dangerous."

- "But then how ...?"

- "You know the old metro stations?" Wolfgang interjected.

- "Yes, sure" Moira nodded "but those things are death traps."

- "Yes, that's what we all thought. But it turns out some areas are safer than others, or at least you can make them safe. Your friend here has been mapping out a route through the old metro." On seeing Moira's face he added "Oh, I know. I didn't believe it myself until I was at Wilhelm's Wharf."

- "Oh, that's amazing. We've been running really short of scrap metal. Everything desperately needs repairs. Folks have been trying to scavenge everything they could but there's nothing left now."

- "Rivet City has all the scrap metal you could ever need. What that place really needs now is food. Which I know Megaton has." Amy could now clearly hear enthusiasm in Wolfgang's voice. "The trade is going to be a trickle at first, the underground route is kind of winding and it needs a lot of work before we could get brahmin through there. Getting Elise up and down the stairs is going to be a challenge." there was a hint of a smile on Wolfgang's face. "But this will work."

- "It would be great if there was a route through to Canterbury Commons." Moira mused. She then rapidly turned to Amy "Oh gosh I'm sorry, I know what a huge thing this is."

- "I wanted to map a route to Canterbury Commons first." said Amy "I decided to start with 'only' a route to Rivet City. Even that proved a bit more difficult than I thought." she smiled weakly.

- "I was thinking about that on the way here." Crazy Wolfgang said. "Rivet City is on the coast. What if we could load stuff onto a boat, sail it south towards Canterbury Commons until we get past the areas that are dangerous, then unload it and transport it over land the rest of the way?"

- "But Wolfie" there was a clear look of concern on Moira's face. "What about all the things they say swim in those waters?"

- "You mean mirelurks?" Amy asked.

- "It's not so much the mirelurks I'm worried about." Moira bit her lip. "It's the things that eat mirelurks as a light snack."

- "Come on, you know half of that is just campfire tales." Amy thought she heard a hint of impatience in Wolfgang's voice.

- "And what about the other half?"

- "Well, we'll just need a bigger boat then. Sturdier. If these monsters of the sea that people talk about even exist, there can't be that many of them. The chance of running into something like this has to be really low." Wolfgang took a step towards Moira and put his hands on her shoulders. "It's not even about Canterbury Commons. If we could get one of those old-world boats working, imagine how much we could load onto it. As much as five caravans, easily. Imagine how far we could trade. The Pitt, maybe even Point Lookout. Further north than that even. Or further south. Just imagine what we might find there. And it would be so much faster than caravans."

- "You're really excited about this, aren't you?" Moira asked, her tone a lot more muted now.

- "I am, yes. When the old routes got too dangerous, we all just said 'Well, nothing we can do now', shrugged our shoulders and just sat there in Rivet City scratching out butts. But your friend Amy, she came up with a different way of thinking. And it worked."

- "Well, clearing those tunnels was at times dangerous. I happen to have this, uhm, talent and it wouldn't really be possible without it." said Amy uncertainly.

- "I know, I saw it in action." Wolfgang nodded. "But the point is, you took the tools you had and you came up with a new idea. I'm just trying to do the same here, to think in a different way."

- "Thinking outside the box." Amy smiled lightly.

- "I don't understand. What box?" asked Moira.

- "Oh, it's just an expression they used in the Vault. I'm not really sure why it's 'the box'".

- "Any box or box-shaped object, we'll think totally and completely outside it" annouced Wolfgang.

Amy went back towards the Megaton gate, while Moira and Wolfgang stayed behind, talking. They had a lot to catch up on, thought Amy. The wind suddenly changed direction carrying the sound of their voices, but it was too faint to recognise any words. Well, almost. Amy hesitantly turned back towards them, and focused her hearing on their conversation.

- "... just maybe think about this plan a little bit more, is all I'm saying."

- "It's not a plan, it's just an idea. Just something I was thinking about on the way here."

- "Oh come on, I know you. It's more than just an idea. You're all excited about it."

- "It's very long-term anyway. There's a lot more work to be done on your friend's passage first." Amy heard what sounded like a sigh. "Can we not do this now? I haven't seen you in months."

- "Oh you're right, you're right. I'm just a little bit..."

Amy shook her head and turned around. It was wrong, she shouldn't have been listening in on her friend like that. Her thoughts were interrupted by a creaking sound of a gate opening. She could see several people on the other side, Sheriff Simms among them. Amy groaned quietly. Right now, all she wanted was to sleep in her bed.

---

A/N So this was a long unplanned hiatus. Some things happened, I found it a bit harder to find the kind of time I need to write. Honestly though, it was a bit of a writer's block, the whole thing just started to feel a bit silly. I want to write again now, but this time I won't make any promises about the update schedule, let's see how this goes.