» Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:23 am
Richard was listening to the radio while he and Judith were walking to the power station. While walking, Richard and Judith had discovered that there were two main radio broadcasts in the Capital Wasteland, as they learned this region was called. The first, Galaxy News Radio, was run by a DJ by the name of Three Dog and talked about life in the Wasteland and played 30s and 40s classics. The other, Enclave Radio, was run by a man named John Henry Eden, who claimed that he was the President of the United States, whose goverment had become the Enclave, and played American patriotic music. However, the duo liked the former more because Eden seemed to be talking about certain aspects of his life that would be impossible in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Richard said, "That Eden's full of [censored], his childhood sounds far too idllyic for anyone out here to have. I'm switching it to Galaxy News Radio." At the moment, the radio station was playing "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire." Judith said, "I agree, this guy's probably just some pre-recording from before the war." As the power station loomed closer in the distance, the duo started getting thirsty as the sun beat higher in the sky. Richard said, "Judith, did you bring any water?" Judith answered, "No Richard, I was with you the whole time, remember." Richard said, "Well anyway, we're here, let's just hope we don't have to end up drinking from the Potomac. According to the map, this is the MDPL-13 Power Station, let's see if we can find anything useful."
The power station consisted of a small Power Substation and a Power Plant right across from it. Judith said, "Let's check out that substation first." The duo then entered the smaller building. Inside, they found a computer terminal, first aid box, and a workbench. Richard hacked into the terminal, and a safe on the floor opened, containing a Scoped 44. Magnum, ammo, bottlecaps, and some Pre-War money. Richard said, "I guess we could sell this money since it's useless out here, or use it for kindling." Judith looked around and picked up schematics for something called a "Railway Rifle", and checked the first aid box to find some Stimpacks and a bottle of Purified Water, as well as some bandages. Richard said to Judith, "Nice scavving Judith, now we have some drinking water." He then noticed a bottle with some glowing blue liquid. Richard read on the bottle, "Nuka Cola Quantum". Upon testing the liquid, it came up as slightly radioactive on the Pip-Boy's sensors due to the presence of a radioactive isotope. Richard said, "That's strange, who'd make a purposely radioactive drink?"
Judith said, "I've heard of Nuka-Cola, it was a really popular drink before the war, but none of the history books talked about this." Richard said, "I figure that it must've been released not too long before the bombs dropped, probably within the span of the last week before the world turned ablaze if not earlier." The duo then looked up to see a clock. If there was one thing that the duo had found creepy since they'd come out of the Vault, it was the fact that every clock stopped at the same time, 10:45 am. It was a chilling reminder in the duo's eyes of what hatred could bring to the world.
Richard and Judith then left the Power Substation and walked over to the Power Plant. Richard said, "I feel a strange vibe coming from this place, let's keep our guard up." The duo then entered the power plant. Once inside, Judith started looking for supplies while Richard booted up a personal computer. The duo then heard a raspy cry and turned as they saw what looked like a zombie from a horror movie heading towards them.
Judith pulled out an Assault Rifle she'd found in a Eat'o'tronic 3000 of all places and shot at it, blowing its head off. Richard said, "What the hell was that?" Judith said, "It matches the description of those "Feral Ghouls" Three Dog was talking about." Richard heard more cries, and could see that more of them were coming. Richard yelled, "Let's get out of here!", and tried to run, but the door was stuck. Richard said, "We'll have to find another way out." More Feral Ghouls started coming, including one that seemed to glow with radiation. The duo noticed that this "Glowing One" appeared to be the leader of the Feral ghouls, as the others and concentrated their fire unto it.
The Glowing One emitted a radiation pulse, and the duo was thrown into a wall. As they tried to get up, the Ghouls tried to rip them to shreds. Richard blew away several with his Magnum, but was given a nasty gash on his arm from a Feral Ghouls slash, knocking him to the ground. The ghouls then tried to smother him. "Richard!", Judith yelled as she shot the Feral Ghouls off of him. Judith then dragged Richard to the other door, keeping the Ghouls distracted with her Assault Rifle while Richard got up, opened the grate and kept it open with a box. Richard yelled, "Come on!, and the duo rolled under the grate and ran as fast as they could from the plant.
One hour later...
"Damn that stings.", Richard hissed as Judith wrapped a bandage around his gash. Judith said jokingly, "Quit whining, Richard, it's just a scratch." After escaping the Feral Ghouls, the duo had found a small warren and were now tending to their weapons and wounds. The warren had been inhabited by wild dogs, but they were currently rotting on the road outside. Richard said, "Looks like the Wasteland hasn't killed your sense of humor, no matter how messed up your statement was." Richard then tuned into Galaxy News Radio, sat down, and started reading along with Judith while "Into Each Life" was playing, glad for the supplies they'd found, but happy to be away from the Feral Ghouls inside that place.