Post by Zelus on Aug 3, 2015 10:55:30 GMT -5
Metro Tunnels, D.C. Ruins
Rusty gave her a smirk as he watched her search the machine. She must’ve been addicted to the stuff or something. She seemed to really be motivated to get a bottle, wasting no time in her search. “Hey you might get lucky, there’s bound to be more of those down here…” There was bound to be more, they often stuck the machines in places where people were likely to go before the war. Rusty had noticed them sat outside of a store, or just in the entrance.
As Shea told him about their attackers he was almost glad they did turn out to be super mutants. They weren’t likely to be stubborn and chase them for a long time. In all likelihood they’d give up the chase as soon as the roof collapsed. Rusty visually seemed comforted by the news, as he nodded. By now they were down on the tracks, Rusty was walking along, glancing up occasionally at the flickering lights on the wall.
Rusty snickered as she referred to the mutant as ‘fucker’, and gave a bit of a nod. “Yeaaah. Had a bit experience with them… Usually I just keep down, no point in risking getting turned into mush.” Rusty casually kicked a small debris piece as he walked along; making it bound several times before settling down a few feet in front of them. Thankfully the tracks were cleared of carriages, giving them a wide birth as they strolled down the tunnel.
Eventually they passed two dead ghouls on the tracks; Rusty making sure to keep his distance looked them over. It was one of the first times he’d ever come across a feral. He’d never been that close to one before and once he realised they were dead be moved closer. “Guess that’s why there aren’t any of ‘em around, huh? Probably don’t like to be around their dead or somethin’.” He theorized, after realising they hadn’t really come across anything.
Shea eventually started explaining his looted weapons, after Rusty made her aware he didn’t really know two things about using either. His mother had only really given him a basic run down of weapons, how to shoot and what not. In most cases, Rusty was horribly under-trained, as his parents never really thought they’d be attacked. Rusty was beginning to realise his parents must not have been the brightest guys in the wasteland, even if he did care for them greatly. Shea however seemed to know all about them. She certainly knew more about them than Rusty. Rusty was making do with what he could do. He was clumsy, he knew that. Hell, it was pretty remarkable that he’d survived at all. Maybe he was just lucky? He had lived on his own for a good while and now Shea had practically fallen in his lap. She was perfect for training him, even if she did frighten him a little. Now she was giving him something of a lecture and he didn’t seem to mind. He listened carefully without saying a word. He just strapped his assault rifle to his back and looked over each gun as she spoke about them. Once she was done he took a moment to look over the ammo he’d taken out of the guns when he decided to travel with them. The ammo was often valuable too, though useful. When he was done looking, he stowed them back in his pouch and looked over at her.
“We are? Huh” stated Rusty, wondering how she even had an idea how close they were to the river. The one thing about travelling above ground was that you could easily figure out where you were. All you needed to do was find some memorable landmarks. Then again, Rusty still got lost on the surface many times. Down here, it seemed even more like a maze. Long passages abd tracks lead off in a whole bunch of different directions. It looked to him, confusing as all hell. Maybe if he could read those signs on the walls, maybe that’d give him a better idea. He grumbled to himself about not being able to. If his parents had just stayed in a settlement, maybe he’d be able to read; maybe they’d still be alive. Rusty vocally huffed and rubbed the back of his neck in frustration at the thought.
When Shea began talking about the riot shotgun, he took it out and gave it the once over. “Uh… suppose I could do. Needs a bit of a clean though, that guy didn’t look after it.” He said, thinking back to the guy Shea had shot in the hotel.
Rusty decided to follow her advice and start using it. As he walked along, he opened up the drum and then started filling it with the ammo he’d pulled out of it before. One it was full of the ammo he’d taken he snapped it shut and then held it in his arms. It felt noticeably lighter than the assault rifle he was used to carrying. He had limited ammo though, so he hoped he wouldn’t have to fire it too much.
As Shea directed him down one of the forks in the tracks, Rusty shifted and walked over the tracks. He quietly looked around rolling his shoulders a bit. He noticed it was rather cool down here, compared to the surface. “Huh, feels kinda good don’t ya think?” he asked turning to her for a moment. “It’s kinda… cool down here. In the uh, warm-not-warm sense ya know?” he muttered breathing in deep. The lack of breeze too seemed to keep the dust content in the air low too.
About an hour later they passed a long poster for some big tower, though Rusty had never seen a building quite like it in the city. Maybe it was somewhere else? He’d been going to ask Shea about it when they came across another ghoul corpse. Next to it a radroach chewed on it, making Rusty grimace. That… was quite possibly the nastiest thing he’d ever seen. He looked away a bit, but then noticed Shea walk over and stomp the thing to death. “Woah.” He whispered watching her a bit. “… feel better now?” he smirked, shaking his head at her.
“Oh, yeah how about that.” Rusty said, coming to a quiet halt in the alcove, which led into the maintenance room. Rusty watched her put down her stuff and then he gave her a bit of a nod when she offered him the chance to open it. “Alright… gimme a little space.” He told, placing his satchel and briefcase down by her things. He carefully leaned his riot shotgun up against the wall too, before slipping past Shea and then leaning over to give the lock a good look. He smirked a bit, knowing he didn’t want to waste a good lockpick on it and so he stepped back and look up the crowbar he held on his hip. “Shouldn’t make too much noise, not that much has been down here…”
Quietly he turned the crowbar over and aligned the pointed end with the lock. He shunted it forward getting the metal between the door and its frame. Once it was in firmly, Rusty yanked the crowbar back. There was a single audible crack in the door but it swung open as the lock fell away from the wooden frame.
Rusty blinked a bit, almost shocked it worked on the first go. “Well, uh. I guess that works!” he grinned pushing open the door. As he opened it quietly, he looked around. There was a workbench inside, with two tool boxes sat on the top. There were a few spare parts, lightbulbs and wires mostly sat around the workbench, with a large wrench on the counter next to it. As Rusty stepped inside after gathering his stuff, he got a good look around. In a sight that was traditional with the wasteland, a skeleton ‘sat’ slumped in a chair behind the desk. A ten millimetre pistol sat in it’s hands still, a finger bone still resting against the trigger. In front of the skeleton sat an almost finished bottle of scotch.
Close to the skeleton sat a working terminal, with century’s old dried blood and layers of dust covering the screen. Even now the command prompt blinked, waiting for input. Rusty gave it a look, before giving the rest of the room the once over. A small refrigerator sat behind the desk, along with a waste bin, sink and a small counter with a coffee machine and a couple of cups. Had Shea have opened the refrigerator, she would’ve found three bottles of scotch, and some prewar food. Clipboards were scattered about the room and there was a large chalk board was on one of the walls, though whatever was written on it had long faded. Behind the door, immediately obscured by it once it was opened was a large firebox and next to it was a box of emergency supplies. Rusty immediately noticed it as he looked around. “Jackpot.” Rusty grinned, pointing at it. He quickly opened it up. He first found some water, pulling it out and sticking it on the nearby counter. The water was immediately followed by some old bandages, a stimpak, a railway lantern and a faded map of the metro. Rusty gave her a big grin as he saw what he’d found.