Ok so, I guess the title speaks for itself... So, right at the very first time I visited Megaton, after agreeing with Mr. Simms that I'd try to deactivate the bomb, I visited The Saloon and found Burke... he offered me a reward for blowing up the whole town, blah blah, so I said no and wen't to tell on him to the Sheriff.. He confronted him and after he turned his back on Burke, Burke drew his gun out and shot him (if I had know I could avoid such a trouble, I'd have killed Burke right after speaking to him for the first time). So after this he kinda threatened me and then he left... at this point I'd like to say I saw Harden Simms wandering around his house and playing with that little adopted girl (whose name I can't recall). So, after completing a couple of sidequests.. ( I didn't think I had the skills required to deactivate the bomb) I visited Megaton again and finally deactivated it... The quest now says I'm supposed to find Harden Simms so I can get my reward (the key to the house + the price on which I agreed to deactivate the bomb). Here's where I'm getting frustrated... When I select the SHOW LOCATION option in that particular quest (under the Quests section in my PipBoy) I am directed to an area just a little north of Springvale School, when I go to the exact spot, I see nothing but rocks and the river, and when I look at the quest in my PipBoy, the dotted line sends me back to Megaton (..........). I've looked for him EVERYWHERE in Megaton (I've looked in some forums and they say Harden can be found at the bar [nope], he can be found in his house at mid-morning and late afternoon [nope], he can be found just outside the girl who send's or he hangs around with the girl I previously mentioned [nope] ) I have really spent a lot of time looking for him (I even waited 24 hours inside his house using the Wait option, 1 hour at a time, and he never showed up; I tried to do the same thing inside the house owned by the bandana guy who adopted the girl until I couldn't wait no more because "I was trespassing" or something) ....

So as you can see I've tried everything with no results.. and at this point, if I ever find the bastard, I think my anger will cause me to blast his head off... I wouldn't mind ignoring this if my reward were only 200 Caps per se, but I've read that you can store things in your place and get rid of all that excesss weigh that, right now, I either have to throw or sell. If there's really no answer to this.. could anyone please at least tell me if I can get a place later in the game and where?

Thanks a lot,
a frustrated player...

I'm sorry, I meant, just outside the Supply store, or he hangs around with the girl

Harden wanders all around Megaton. But since your quest arrow is pointing you to Springvale School, it sounds like he may have glitched and fallen through the ground. Is your game fully patched? If you're playing the Game of the Year version, it's already pre-patched.

If Harden has glitched and fallen through the ground, you can try to get him back (tricky to do if you're playing on 360 or PS3) or you could find an "alternative" house. There should be a thread or two on places to live five or ten pages back in the forums. Some of the places I can think of off the top of my head:

Super Duper Mart
under the bridge beside Super Duper Mart
Abandoned Tent
Sniper Shack
Alexandria Arms
Rivet City hotel room (rent the hotel room from the robot and never close the door to keep it long-term)

Until you can get to one of those places, you might want to store your extra stuff in the Nuka-Cola machine at the Red Rocket gas station in Springvale. It doesn't respawn and is close to the fast travel point.

The first time I played through, I did the same thing, though I didn't know that deactivating the bomb would result in a house. When I did it, I was able to find Harden though I don't remember exactly where...

Have you tried just waiting in town? Sometimes when an NPC doesn't spawn where s/he should, waiting can fix it. Otherwise I believe the cell will reset after...75 game hours? Someone posted that on this forum though I can't remember where.

Children are essential NPCs and can't die, even if they go wandering out in the wasteland. It sounds like he has somehow just spawned in the wrong spot.

My game is currently patched up to the 1.7 version, and it is not the Game of the Year version. Sounds like what you described happened to my game. I'm playing the PC version, would you be so nice to tell me how can I attempt to resurrect him from the NPC underworld?
Thanks a lot in advance

I've tried waiting for him in front of his place and around Megaron, and still he doesn't show up.. When you say 75 game hours... do you mean waiting for a little longer than 3 days in Fallout or 3 actual days playing ? (Because by the time the latter happens I'll have probably beaten the game already and it would all be in vain)

I really hope your theory on children NPC's is true and that he shows up eventually... Thanks a lot !

Open the console with the ` key and type this:

prid 00003B45
moveto player

Should plop him right beside you.

JESUS CHRIST !!!!!!!!

The commands worked :')
Thank you so much, you've been very helpful !!

Now I can set my mind on getting 5 millions Caps to fully equip my house

Thanks again !!

I did mean 3 days in game-universe. It sounds like your problem has been solved, though! Yay