Unsure how long he was out for Harold slowly opens his eyes as he sees the inside of the gas station illuminated by a newly lit fire.
Attempting to move, Harold struggles, and as his mind catches up to him, he finds he was tied up.
Alarmed, his blue eyes darted around until he saw Rose tied up as well with her eyes focused on the person responsible.
A ghoul wearing all-black down to the hat on the top of his head.
"I'll give you this, little lady, you have a mean throw," groans their captor as he rubbed the side of his face.
Looking at his feet, Harold saw the broken Nuka Cola Quantum bottle.
Struggling against the rope, Rose triumphantly says, "I can throw more!"
Unable to move outside a few movements, Harold calls out to their captor, "What do you want?"
Crossing his arms, the captor says, "I wanted information, but the little lady put up a fight."
Harold was out like a light, but Rose held up for a little while until she subsumed to the smoke bomb.
Realizing he hadn't gotten the chance to introduce himself on account they were knocked out by the smoke bomb, he puts a gloved hand over his chest as he calls himself Vandal.
"What information do you want?" Harold was desperate to find out how to resolve this so he and Rose would be unharmed.
Reaching into his inner long coat pocket, the ghoul brought out two pieces of paper.
Unfolding them, he showed Harold and Rose two people.
"I had a feeling it was one of you that talked about my new bounty with a minuteman. Heard it over the radio," Vandal eyes them.
Studying the pictures, the two see the one with the man wearing round glasses, and the other a woman.
Instantly, they recognized her, but kept it quiet as they wanted to know how Vandal decided to come after them, two innocent people who had no idea what was going on.
Unfortunately, the seasoned bounty hunter was wise to see through it.
"I've been a bounty hunter for the longest time, honey. Let's just say I have my way," Vandal cracks a smile.
There's a reason he was the most sought-after bounty hunter for hire.
"We only know as much as you do!" Rose states she and Harold don't know anything about the man with the round glasses.
Raising his gloved finger, Vandal points out, "You talked to a raider about him, didn't you?"
Struggling, Rose explains how they came across the wounded raider and even helped him, but the only new thing about the man with the round glasses they learnt was he had an accent that isn't common in the area.
"He told me that, yeah," Vandal scratched the side of his face.
With both Harold and Rose asserting they know nothing else about the man with the round glasses other than what Fisk and the raider told them, Vandal went on to ask about the woman.
"Why do you think we know her?" Harold questions him.
Eying him, Vandal went into detail how the two went on their path getting to the shanty town initially.
There was a reason he was keeping an eye on them!
Logically, they would have a chance finding and encountering the woman.
"What did she do to… warrant a bounty hunter?" Rose questions Vandal.
Shrugging, Vandal answers, "I don't ask. Bounties get wired to me and I do 'em."
So long the caps are good, Vandal doesn't investigate the detail much.
"You must realize that no minutemen are going to tolerate you holding us captive!" Harold warns Vandal about the pushback.
Groaning, Vandal laments, "Don't remind me! Minutemen! Can you believe that nonsense?"
It wasn't long ago that Vandal could easily walk into a settlement to find his marks without problems, now he meditates with minutemen as they're popping up in places.
If it isn't marks hiding among raiders, it's marks hiding where there are minutemen!
"But that's the beauty of a vast land, always a way forward," Vandal saw some silver lining.
Convinced the two know the woman, Vandal wouldn't budge from the subject until he hears something.
Eventually, the two silently talked to one another until Rose asks Vandal, "If we tell you, will you let us go?"
Casually shrugging, Vandal answers, "It couldn't hurt your chances."
Chewing on her inner lip, Rose struggles before she breaks down and tells him.
He heard Rose say, "I ran into her, but I don't know where she is exactly."
His nonexistent ears perking up, Vandal listens as Rose talks about the woman that helped fix her Pip-Boy.
Topping off her story with, "I don't know what else to tell you, sir."
None of them could tell Vandal where the woman was exactly, but they saw a glint in his eye that suggested otherwise.
"Tell you what, you're gonna come with me," Vandal decided.
Immediately, Rose protested as she begged Vandal to let her and Harold go, but the season bounty hunter won't reconsider.
"I said I'll let you go, but I didn't say when, did I?" Vandal grinned at Rose.
Using choice words, Vandal reveals his intent on keeping the two tied up with the explicit purpose of having them help locate his bounty.
"What about the other one?" Rose struggles.
Flatly, Vandal told her that because of the first bounty being worth more, it was no brainer he wanted it to be finished before someone catches wind and tries to steal it from.
"It's business," Vandal expresses.
As she struggles, Rose begs Vandal to reconsider, saying that she has an important task that she needed to do, and she's not far from completing it.
"Please, we'll help you find her, just let me get to Memphis!" Rose pleaded.
Curiosity in his eyes, Vandal wanted to know what was important to Rose that she needed to venture to Memphis.
"Not trying to be the new Priscilla, are you?" Vandal chuckles.
Gritting her teeth, Rose states, "My father asked me to do this, sir!"
Fighting against the ropes, Rose was desperate in her efforts, and Vandal was amused by this display before telling her that if she and Harold help him find the woman he's searching for, he'll take her to Memphis, himself.
Desperate, Rose chews on her inner lip before broaching, "What if… what if we work it out?"
She insists that she can pay off the bounty for the woman, to keep Vandal from taking her and Harold back across the river.
"You sure have a lot of caps," Vandal revealed how he went through Rose's things. "But it ain't enough, little lady. This bounty's too good to pass up. Unless you get lucky at cards, again, you're not gonna afford the payout."
The bounty was an eye watering 300k caps!
"That much?" Harold winces.
Nodding, Vandal explains that he was shocked as well when he initially received the bounty, and that's why he was insistent on finding the woman.
"What if they can't pay you?" Rose brings up a possibility.
Chuckling, Vandal responds with, "Little lady, I told you, I earned my keep for a reason. They can't pay me; it's going to be worse for them."
He encouraged the two to get some sleep, they're going to need it.
Difficult as it was, the two couldn't sleep in fear of Vandal, and come morning, he made good on his promise, forcing them to walk goose step out of the gas station.
"Yeah, we better get moving, I think we're due for some more storms," Vandal yawns.