Following the path Fisk told them would get them to Memphis quicker, Rose and Harold continue walking along the uneven roads left to rot.
Abandoned vehicles picked clean by scavengers and became permanent fixtures in the ground dotted the former highway.
"What's on your mind?" Harold noticed Rose had been noticeably quiet.
Blinking, Rose asks, "Would a parcel be part of the experiment?"
Ever since Harold told her about the true intentions of the vaults, she had been thinking it over for a while, and now grows unsure what she even was doing was her father's wishes or the Vault-Tech's.
Seeing her subtly distressed, Harold tries to calm her by saying, "To tell the truth, I'm not sure, but if he is a true father, he wouldn't let his daughter be a part of the experiments."
Thinking of that way, Rose wonders, "Why didn't he tell me sooner?"
Pushing up his glasses, Harold says, "I'm sure it wasn't any easier on him. Decades of following the same rules for so long, you don't question them, anymore."
Whatever the reason, Rose will need to speak to her father to know the truth.
Rose yelps when Harold suddenly pulls her backwards as he hears a subtle pinging noise nearby.
"What?" Rose briefly held her chest.
Raising his finger, Harold warns her, "Landmines. Be very careful!"
Pointing to an innocuous white puck where Rose would have walked, Harold urged her to look closely, and she saw the flash of a red LED light as the landmine stopped pinging.
"Follow my lead, carefully," Harold urges her.
Her legs almost turning into jelly, Rose closely follows Harold as he guided her away from the sporadically placed landmines that dotted the highway.
"I thought he said this was safe!" Rose questioned Fisk's guidance.
Seeing them placed awkwardly, Harold suggests that the landmines were placed recently, and since Fisk doesn't travel far from the river, he doubted it was him.
Side stepping every landmine placed on the ground, there was an end to this as they came across an old diner that once served travelers.
The sign was completely destroyed, and all the aesthetics bleached and worn from the elements, there was no indicator of what diner this was originally, as they came up to the door.
Cautious, Harold advised Rose not to try and open it, frightful that it was also boobytrapped.
"I don't see anyone," Rose squints her eyes as she tries to see through the dirty window.
Despite Harold's hesitation, Rose presses on, opening the door into the diner.
Instantly, the smell hit her nose, the dry rot, the mildew, and mold.
Once she saw there was no one inside or anything dangerous, Rose waved in Harold, and he begrudgingly entered the building with his blue eyes attentive.
Going around the chrome counter, Rose poked through what she could, but didn't find anything of interest.
Harold gone to the kitchen to see if there was anything overlooked and to his surprise, he found a few Stimpaks and two Sweetie Teas.
"Sweetie Tea?" Rose raises her fine brow as she comes up to the window into the kitchen.
Showing her the glass bottles, Harold guessed, "Hyper regional brand?"
Coming out of the kitchen with them, Harold was as perturbed as Rose.
With them reaching Tennessee, Rose opts to drink the Sweetie Teas with Harold, as a celebration.
Popping the caps off and shoving them in her bag, Rose hands the glass bottle to Harold as she takes her first sip.
Instantly, she tasted the sweetness before the black tea came through.
"Wow!" Rose didn't know what to think of it.
Flummoxed as she was, Harold couldn't describe how it tasted to him.
Checking the bottle in his hand closely, he found a pair of regular Sweetie Teas, and there was a lemon, raspberry, and a peach flavor as well.
The bottle had a detailed history of Sweetie Tea and its founders etched into the glass as he read it off to Rose.
"Well, I guess if we get bored of Nuka Cola, we can always switch to that, then?" Rose shrugs.
Harold comments that they'd be better off drinking either, but with their situation, that can't always be helped, so he agreed with the idea of switching it up every now again.
"I didn't find anything else in the kitchen," Harold informed her.
Not surprising but finding the drinks and the Stimpaks was better than nothing.
Leaving the diner, the two continued walking up the highway.
Watching their every step, the two made their way towards a livelier area with a recent sign put up welcoming wary travelers.
Underneath, it advertised a café ahead with the menu sounding appetizing as they read on.
HATTIE'S SOUTHERN COOKING
-Cornbread Dressing
-Fried Chicken
-Chitlins
-Apple Fritters
-Chess Pies (Chocolate and Original)
-Black-Eyed Peas
-Collard Greens
-And More!
Reading the menu, Rose sheepishly asked, "What are chitlins?"
Shrugging, Harold replies, "I'm not sure, I suppose we'll find that out. Should we make a stop?"
Thinking it over, Rose responds, "Well, we need some lunch, don't we?"
And, someone at the building would know where they can settle for the night.
Nodding, Harold follows Rose up a path to a quaint building where their noses instantly smelled the cooking going on in the back.
Upon reaching the doors they hear the chatter coming from the patrons.
Entering the building, the smell of fried chicken and everything else hit their nose all at once, and instantly they're drawn to the empty seat across the building.
Sitting at the tables, there were men wearing thick cowboy hats drinking beer and chomping on their respected orders of food.
They were too busy with their conversations to notice the two sitting as they enjoyed the shade from the sun.
"Hello sweethearts, how are you?" They heard a thick southern accented woman coming towards them with a large hairdo.
Smiling, Rose and Harold gave their answers.
"What are ya'll having to drink? We got Sweetie Teas, Nuka Colas, Diet Nuka Colas, beer, whiskey, and filtered water," Tesla gave a list of the drinks they serve at the restaurant.
Both say the same thing, Nuka Cola.
"Here are your menus, I'll be back in a minute with your drinks," Tesla gave them yellowed papers.
Watching her leave, they went about looking at the menu with interest.
"I can go for some fried chicken," Harold pushes up his glasses.
Reading the menu, Rose was indecisive before she musters, "I think I'll go for the fried steak and sausage gravy with biscuits."
And for dessert, she wanted to try chess pie.
"I don't think it's a pie with a chess design on it," Harold ponders about the dessert.
Tesla returns to the table with their drinks before the two give their orders and Rose got the chance to ask what chitlins are.
Tesla proceeds to give a detailed description of them and it was more than enough not only to satiate Rose and Harold's curiosity, but their interest in the dish.
"It is an acquired taste, sweetie," Tesla shrugs before she sat down a basket of biscuits with butter and jam.
With their biscuits, the two proceed to munch on them as they listened to the background noise.