"How'd it go?"
Veronica eyed her second, still shrugging off her MOPP jacket. "Some good, some bad. Knowing Simmons, half the school will know in the next few minutes. What do we got?"
"This." Gabby excitedly pressed 'Play' on her HoloTape player.
"...is that…? There. I think you got it." The voice was of a woman, one that sounded vaguely familiar. Though, the audio was filled with static. "Yes! We're live! Okay… *ahem*. If anyone can hear me, this is Marie Jackson from the Galaxy News Radio building at Dupont Circle. You may know my show, 'Mornings with Marie!'. Anyway, if you're hearing this broadcast, it means you have hardware that can help us. My crew and I are trying to fix our station's relay mast. Right now, signal strength is quite limited, but we could eventually rebuild the network. Bring news and even music back to the airways! All we need is- Nono! Jon, don't touch tha-!"
Marie's voice disappeared into the static, and Gabby eventually pressed 'Stop'. "I lost the signal after that."
"People are still alive Downtown?"
"Dupont Circle has a Metro Station." James pointed out. "And some major news stations have their own fallout shelters, for the staff and anchors." He shrugged. "It's entirely plausible for there to be survivors all over D.C.. What're you thinkin', Ronnie?"
"With a working radio network, we could find the rest of the military. We could contact Maitland." Veronica glanced between the two, finding Tsu with a skeptical expression.
"You really want to try going there, Sir?"
"Well, I'm sure Downtown is a complete disaster zone, just like any other day, but establishing a radio network could be the first step in rebuilding."
Baker crossed his arms. "Based on what Joe was able to see on the way back here, anyone trying to get to the city from here would have trouble getting out of the river, let alone getting into Downtown. The Potomac is frozen over in this area, but upriver and past Grayditch are flowing. The banks on the opposite side are mostly stone levees, and all the bridges are either down or crumbling." He approached a map of the Capitol, which was pinned to the wall by a teacher at some point before the Exchange, and pointed out the major bridges. "Francis Scott Key by the SD Mart is about to collapse. FDR and Fourteenth Street already did."
"How bad is the Key?"
"Holding on by a thread. I took the liberty of sending some of Second squad over while you were getting groceries. Lynch said that the decking is crumbling. There are holes big enough to fit a small car. I wouldn't bet against pushing the thing over with one hand. Liebherr also took some photos." Baker brought up his PiP Boy and scrolled to the 'Notes' tab, showing Veronica pictures of the bridge.
Once a major artery into Downtown D.C. from the suburbs of Arlington, the Francis Scott Key Bridge had seen better days. Severe damage, likely caused by the initial blasts and subsequent weather, was obvious. The last photograph was of Henry Liebherr stepping as far onto the bridge as he dared. A hole in the deck between his feet was the size of a truck tire, and went clear down to the river some twenty feet down.
Lewis cursed under her breath. The best way to get into DC from Virginia was to utilize the road bridges. There was no telling how thick the ice on the river was, or if the water was as contaminated as Marigold. In these frigid temperatures, one would have mere minutes to escape the river if they fell in.
"We have to try." Veronica declared, earning an annoyed sigh from James. "Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll lead the team, and I'll cross the river first."
"That doesn't make me feel better at all. You're our boss. You don't have a chain of command to answer to. Send us to do the bullshit work, like grocery shopping and wellness checks."
"The people at Marigold were dead." The Lieutenant growled, giving the pair of soldiers pause.
"Come again?"
"Dead. Or… kind of alive. Or… Fuck, Jimmy, I don't know." She paced away from her friend. "They attacked us like wild animals. I had to pull Simmons out of water that could have boiled an egg." The frazzled Lieutenant eyed the map. "Thanks to that, we can't use the Metro to get across…"
"Did Chris give you two anything?" James' voice became serious.
"Tommy's with him now, and I'll get something on my way out."
"W-wait, wait. You're still going to this goose chase?"
"Yes. We need a communication network." He glanced at Tsu as Lewis marched away. "Gabby, get kitted up. Find O'Malley, Lynch, and… fuck it, we'll take Liebherr, too. Meet me on the ground floor." Lewis pulled her jacket back on and headed to Hawke's clinic. "In the meantime, put Simmons in charge of building the dollies for hauling shit from the construction site to here."
Half an hour later…
"Think it'll hold?"
Samuel O'Malley, Henry Liebherr, and Patrick Lynch soon found themselves on the bank of the frozen Potomac. The trio had lobbed a handful of large rocks and pieces of concrete onto the ice in a rudimentary attempt to test its structural integrity. So far, even a piece that had taken both Sam and Henry to carry hadn't fallen through, though the cracking sounds had been worryingly loud.
Further back from the river, Gabby and Veronica quietly watched the spectacle. Tsu was visibly shivering, while Lewis simply rested her hands on her hips, slowly growing impatient. Or, was it anxious? The five soldiers were in the open, wearing woodland MOPP suits and standing in a foot of snow. They stood out like sore thumbs on the otherwise white landscape.
Lewis eyed her PiP Boy. Her 'Rads' needle hadn't moved much, other than the usual wobbling, but her biggest concern was time. It was nearly 15:00, and they had only traveled about a hundred yards from the school. Not only were they risking exposure to radioactive fallout, but the extreme cold.
The Lieutenant offered Gabby a sympathetic glance, which of course the Private couldn't actually see, before letting out an annoyed growl.
"This is taking too long." She uprooted her boots from the snowbank she was in and trugged forward towards the frozen river. Tsu followed after a few beats, while looking around at the snow piling up around them.
"Lynch." Veronica said, coming to a stop a few feet from the trio.
"Yo." The Sergeant looked up from sifting through the snow and frozen dirt, looking for more rocks to throw at the ice.
"We're running short on time here, guys. Any way we can speed this up?"
"We've only tested one side of the ice, Sir." Pointed out Liebherr, who was cradling a handful of bricks he had liberated from a nearby building. "There's still the other side. It could also be thinner in the-"
"I appreciate your Bachelors in Structural Engineering, Henry…" Lewis cut him off.
"As if he's not enough of a nerd." O'Malley jeered. Veronica ignored the quip.
"...but we need to get going. If none of you feel safe crossing first, I'll do it myself."
"Veronica." Gabby spoke her superior's name in an exasperated tone.
"What? Are you Baker Junior, now?"
"Respectfully, Sir. You can't keep doing this. Leading the charge on the most dangerous objectives? I understand you made a name for yourself in Alaska doing it, but we aren't there anymore."
"I'm aware of that, Tsu. But we need to do this. If the rest of you don't want to come, go back to the school. No hard feelings." Pat dropped the stone he had picked up.
"Nobody's leaving you out here, Ronnie. And either way, we should move on. Let Liebherr brainstorm much longer, he'll start hucking grenades at the river."
Henry tilted his head, as if contemplating the idea.
"Don't you dare." Lynch pointed at him. Veronica stepped past the trio and approached the river. Given the snow covering, it was hard to tell where the ground ended and the ice began, so she took Henry at his word when he pointed out the edge.
Some light cracking came with Lewis' first step, which was expected, but still nerve wracking. After a few steps, she glanced back, and saw Lynch following her. One by one, Veronica's 'Vulture' squad made their way onto the ice sheet, until they made it all the way across the fifty odd yard breadth of the river. Lewis placed a hand firmly against the stone face of the levee, feeling a sense of security from touching something solid.
O'Malley was the first to ask the question on everyone's minds. "Now what?"
Veronica looked up. The top of the stone wall was about ten feet above their heads.
"Hmmm…"
Meanwhile…
"Operation: Hephaestus? Really?"
Sergeant Martinez found herself sitting next to her friend and squadmate Corporal Simmons, who was gazing intently at the smattering of bicycles, wagons, and tricycles that were being disassembled by a group of kids and some of their parents. One of O'Malley's toolboxes was at his other side, and a set of wrenches was dispersed amongst the volunteers. Tommy had effectively become a supervisor, due to his injuries.
"Yes. Hephaestus. The patron-saint of craftsmen."
Ash gave him a quizzical look, which made Tommy feel defensive. "What? We're building stuff, as a means to transport more stuff to build with, in order to build something else. Hephaestus would be proud."
A wheel from somewhere in the tangle of busy kids suddenly sprung loose and rolled towards the pair. Tommy reached out with his usable foot and stopped it, holding it long enough for the little girl chasing after it to catch up. She offered a quiet "thanks" and ran back to her work spot. The Corporal smiled as she sat down in front of her deconstructed wagon and continued her task.
Meanwhile, Ash shook her head.
"Ooo-kay."
Tommy looked at her.
"What?"
"What is this? A union job? With a supervisor watching over every little thing?"
The Corporal frowned. "Why do you try to cheapen everything that I do?"
"Because you're not the one doing the work."
"I'm crippled."
Ash rolled her eyes. She reached forward and grabbed a stray tricycle, wheeling it over and taking the wrench Tommy was holding.
"What are you doing?" He asked as Martinez got to work on the bike's wheels.
"If you can't walk, you need a way to get around. How about I build you a wheelchair? Then, Hephaestus will be proud of me, too."
"HA!" Ricci barked a laugh as he passed by.
"Fuck both of you." Simmons grumbled, crossing his arms. What neither of his friends saw was a smile creeping up on his face.
"...Clear."
Caving in to pressure, Veronica had allowed Liebherr to scale the levee first. He quickly swept the area with his R91, while standing on O'Malley's shoulders, before climbing all the way up and dropping onto the snowy sidewalk. He spun back around just in time to catch Veronica's outstretched hand, and helped the shorter woman up.
Lewis waited until her team was all accounted for, before looking down at her PiP Boy. Wiping some snowflakes off of the screen, she scrolled to the satellite map.
(Fallout New Vegas: Lonesome Road Hopeville Ambience)
"We're here. In Bethesda." Lynch kneeled down next to her. "Dupont Circle is to the East. We follow Canal Road, which should take us straight to Dupont. As long as we hang a left onto M Street." Lewis closed her PiP Boy. "Sam, you got point. Liebherr, take the rear. Gabby, with me."
"Sir."
"Roger."
Wind buffeted the group as they walked, howling between the empty buildings around them. Private O'Malley trudged through nearly a foot of powdery snow, forging a path along the car-laden street occasionally aiming at open windows with his AER-9. Glancing over her shoulder, Veronica noticed Henry looking into some of the half buried cars, likely out of force of habit, searching for any signs of life. None were occupied, which Lewis was thankful for.
"How you doing, Gabby?" Lynch asked his greenest soldier.
"I'm… glad we're walking again." Tsu mumbled. "I'm freezing my ass off. Even Alaska wasn't this cold."
"Well… the world has never seen a nuclear winter before. I'm sure the last time it was this cold was during the Ice Age."
"Or the blizzard of '78." Veronica remarked. "My grandparents survived it. This place largely matches their description."
"Veronica Lewis. Company CO, Squad Leader, and history teacher." O'Malley quipped.
"Ah, shut up."
Eventually, the squad came across a jackknifed truck blocking both lanes of travel. Either end of the truck's trailer were firmly wedged into the supports of the overpass overhead. Sam took the lead in climbing over, utilizing a half crushed Corvega, and paused at the top.
"Well… shit."
"What is it?" Lewis followed the man up onto the truck, and was immediately confronted by the dilemma.
A building along the road had collapsed, blocking the entire highway with debris.
"Oh boy."
The rest of the squad climbed up and took in the sight.
Collapsed, charred buildings, piles of snow, and destroyed cars stretched far ahead along the Whitehurst Freeway. Rock formations and a steep hill blocked the left. Going straight would guarantee injury and damaged MOPP gear if they tried to climb over the wreckage.
Lewis looked down at her PiP Boy map again.
"There's a Metro station down that way." She pointed to the right, which followed Canal Road. "Farragut West. If I remember that Metro map correctly, we should be able to reach Dupont Circle. Or Tenleytown, failing that."
"Should we risk going into the underground again?" Lynch asked. "After what happened to you and Tommy in Grayditch?"
"All the streets up to this point have been blocked in some way." Veronica looked at her friend. "Canal only continues Southeast. We need to go North." She shrugged. "I don't like it either, but we don't have a choice. Who knows? The station and tunnels may be completely empty."
"I wish I had your optimism, Sir."