Harold didn't know if he slept, he must have been periodically getting up at every interval in fear of someone breaking into his or Rose's rooms, all in the name of thievery and unsportsmanlike.
The sun peaks through the tattered curtains as he pushed himself up from the uncomfortable bed.
Moving around the room, Harold washed himself with the filtered water and once he found some braveness he opened his door out into the hallway.
He goes to Rose's door and knocks on it.
Prone to expecting the worst, Harold braces himself, and to his relief, Rose opens the door.
"Did you sleep well?" Rose notices the weariness in Harold's eyes.
Admitting that he was worried that the attention from last night's poker game would incite a negative response.
"It's been quiet, Mr. Harold, you didn't need to worry about me," Rose assures him.
Nodding, Harold admitted that being in the Wasteland for a while frazzled his nerves that he always expects the worst outcome.
"Well, I say we have enough for the trip across the river, don't you think?" Rose gestures.
Nodding, Harold suggests, "It might be best if we get some supplies before we go."
Don't know what troubles lie ahead and if the crayfish are as dangerous as Mal says, it would be best to have some extra ammunition.
Agreeing with him, Rose collected the sack of bottle caps and her things before she left her room.
Going down the stairs, they returned their keys, and off they went to the stores dotting around the shanty town.
Haggling over prices wasn't an option, so Rose paid the asking price as she and Harold collected supplies.
During this, Harold caught sight of something in the corner of his eye as he was near the window.
It was hard for him to see, but he certainly wasn't going to turn his head and look.
He got the opportunity to turn his head when Rose showed her new gear that the owner convinced her into buying.
Outside the shop leaning on a post, it was that ghoul from last night.
He wasn't looking their way, but Harold held suspicion.
"Mr. Harold, I think you should get some too," Rose got his attention.
Blinking, Harold fixes his glasses as he goes over to the mirror as Rose stares at herself wearing reinforced leather.
"I'm fine," Harold weakly smiles.
Unconvinced, Rose pushes him to get similar gear, saying it was only fair that Harold had an advantage, too.
Unable to argue against Rose, Harold goes along with it, and he looked at himself in the mirror as he was fitted in better gear than a dress shirt and slacks.
"Ready to go check out some weapons?" Rose gestures.
Slowly nodding, Harold follows her out of the shop, as he did, he didn't see the ghoul in the corner of his eye, and when he timidly turns his head, the ghoul was no longer near the post.
"After the weapon shop, we are leaving," Harold moved ahead to talk with Rose in hushed whispers.
Seeing his blue eyes wide, Rose whispers, "What's wrong?"
Harold explains, "When you were playing in that poker tourney last night a ghoul came into the bar. I don't believe in coincidence that he was across the store we were in!"
Raising her fine brow, Rose questions Harold, "Why would he be after us, we didn't do anything wrong."
They hadn't talked to anyone outside a handful of people and even then, they made sure they didn't say anything untoward.
Seeing the worry in Harold's eyes, Rose comforts him that everything will be fine, and they reach a store that specializes in weapons.
Ammunition was the priority before they moved onto looking at different weapons being sold.
Harold suggests they buy a blunt weapon to conserve ammo.
Going through the blunt weapons being sold, they decide on a reinforced aluminum club.
Light enough both can swing it with ease and keep on their backs, they would have no trouble using it when needed.
Loaded up on their supplies, the two made their way out of the shop, and on their way out of the shanty town.
Consulting her Pip-Boy, Rose guided Harold as they carried their purchased supplies out, and when they were further way Harold turned his head.
The ghoul wasn't at the entrance of the shanty town, thankfully, but the doubt in the back of Harold's mind kept him on edge.
Maybe he is paranoid, maybe being under the sun for hours on end before Rose found him and finally got to him, or even the stress of the situation took a turn, but Harold didn't survive this long for nothing.
He started covering up their tracks.
The footprints disappear with every sweep of the branches as he tries to mask their footprints.
"Mr. Harold, what are you doing?" Rose ended up asking him.
With the large branch in his hands, Harold says, "I didn't stay under corpses to be a corpse."
Harold wasn't convinced by Rose that there was nothing to be afraid of and she was forced to let him mask their footprints.
Checking her Pip-Boy once again, Rose saw them making progress.
They weren't far from the ferries, now.
Stopping for a moment, Rose wonders if there was a ferryman they'd need to talk to upon reaching the ferries.
"Automated ferries would need regular maintenance, especially with those crayfish," Harold notes as he took a swig of his canteen.
At most someone who stays near the shores to work on the automated ferries as needed, but he was sure that it wouldn't cost a phenomenal fee to cross the river.
"If it takes as long getting across, we should settle down for the night once we reach the next settlement," Rose sighs.
Agreeing with her, Harold asks, "When we arrive in Memphis, who are you looking for?"
Rose became hesitant as she dodged his question.
"Considering we're traveling together, it's only fair," Harold pointed out.
Frowning, Rose says, "I promised my father I wouldn't tell anyone."
Curiosity in his blue eyes, Harold points out, "Your father must be an overseer to have the power allowing you to leave the vault."
He heard, "How do you know so much about them?"
Sighing, Harold explains, "Everyone on the topside knows about them and few know the truth behind them."
Seeing Rose curious, Harold opts to explain the grisly history behind the vaults, and how they weren't meant to be the last holdouts for humanity.
"Experiments, every vault had their assigned experiments ready even before people entered them," Harold explains to her. "These experiments were cruel. I'm certain there are vaults untouched with everyone inside dead."
Listening to him, Rose questions him with, "Why would anyone want that?"
As he pushes up his glasses, Harold replies, "They wanted to study the effects, wanting the betterment of humanity, so they claimed, but the way they handled it… hell is kinder."
Seriousness in his voice, Harold didn't mince words as he told Rose about the true nature of the vaults, and how the overseers of the vault were instructed to follow their assignments.
"My father is the kindest man I known; he wouldn't subject us to these crazy experiments!" Rose argues.
Seeing her arguing for her father's character, Harold calmly explains that even if her father had good intentions, he would be beholden to the experiment selected for his vault.
Even if he genuinely doesn't understand why he is doing it, he would do it unconditionally.
"Well, I can tell you that nothing crazy was happening when I left," Rose shakes her head.
As he frowns, Harold responds, "Some experiments are subtle enough none of the vault dwellers know it's happening. Something simple as a weaponized white noise. Controlled rumors. You say nothing happened in your vault, but how could you know for certain?"