//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Escape from Chaos // Story: Wasteland Wishes // by OutOfFlames //------------------------------// “Finally… I think I’ve lost them for good this time. I thought I was going to run out of gas for a moment there. Good thing I’m faster than those slobs. I suppose this damn radiation has some positive effects… What am I saying!? Of course this whole thing is nothing but a curse! Damn raiders, was that big hunk of rock really that important to them?” said Argyle with a raspy voice that would attract anyone’s attention upon hearing, all while breathing heavily and looking for a good spot to sit on. He had been running ever since he split up with Herbert, and the fact that they were carrying a huge slab of stone, for a certain person who was willing to pay a very reasonable price for its retrieval, before the desperate escape for survival made him feel even more fatigued in the end. He had stopped running now and was standing completely still, breathing heavily in and out while thinking about whether or not Herbert managed to escape his share of raiders. “I wonder how Boss is doing… He can’t survive in this wasteland without me… I’d best get going to finding him fast before… his death falls on my conscious. But first, I need to rest a little… Oh, my back’s killing me.” He walked onwards and eventually stumbled upon an area where lots of destroyed houses resided. “I can lay low here for a while, just in case those bastards decide to follow me this far,” he muttered. Still exhausted, he walked closer to the remains in the hopes that there would be at least a sofa or a bed or, in fact, anything soft on which he could sit or, better yet, lie on. After searching further from his starting point he found a house which had only a bed inside it, and even it was under debris. He was in no mood to be lifting them away, but he was desperate for the bed under it, so he started to clear a path for his aching body to lie on. He moved to the end of the bed and thought it would be best to start with the bigger pieces. But after looking outside from the big hole in the wall he noticed something strange outside, “What are those? They look like... a merry-go-round, monkey bars and …a slide?!” He immediately stopped clearing the debris and slowly walked outside while still being heavily fatigued. What he found was a playground that had managed to stay recognizable even after the nuclear bombs exploded. In addition to the first three structures he saw, there was a small space rocket which had small ladders on the back and a pole to climb down from in the front, and a swing set. “Ah… This slide looks really comfortable to lie on.” Despite the little stains on the surface, he didn’t hesitate at all and let his body-weight drop him onto the cold, metallic surface where he would be regaining stamina and trying to regain his composure. It was more comfortable than he had expected. “I knew this job was too god to be true. Just carry a piece of rock, he said. You’ll have no trouble, he said… Why, I’ll give him a piece of my mind the next time I see that crazy Lincoln fanatic!” After a while of rambling to himself he finally calmed down, took some deep breath which caused him to cough uncontrollably, for a while, and began to backtrack his memory in order to try to figure out to where would Herbert have run to when they split up. “If I’m correct, he ran towards West while I’ve been running to the South from where we split up…” he pondered. Argyle looked around and noticed that he had been talking to himself the whole time. “I better stop talking to myself before I lose it and become one of those mindless things. I hate how things are as they are already…” After a moment of rest he got back on his feet again and decided it was time to continue onwards. “Wow, time sure seems to go too fast when you’re trying to enjoy the moment… I’d better head towards Rivet City from here, before it gets too dark for me to travel. Megaton’s way too far for me to go to with the supplies I have left, anyways…” he mumbled to himself, immediately forgetting what he said to himself a few seconds ago. “Besides, judging from the direction Boss ran to, he should be quite close to Megaton by now. I’m sure he’ll be fine… At least for a while, I think… Come to think of it, why were we heading towards Megaton anyway? Weren’t we supposed to deliver that rock to that guy back in Rivet City?” Knowing Herbert, he knew it had nothing to do with the job they accepted, but rather with the fine women back in Megaton who were working to their bones to ensure a safe place to call ‘home’ where they didn’t need to worry about the reality all that hard with the details. Clearing his mind from the previous thoughts, which he’ll be sure to keep noted for when he meets up with Herbert again, he began moving southwards towards Rivet City, a destroyed ship on where the current citizens of Rivet City have dedicated their time to fixing the massive airship carrier so that they could live on it without having to worry about sinking into the irradiated water or the possible raids initiated by Raiders, Super Mutants, Mirelurks or Slavers. He continued walking towards South, but he noticed a structure of interest after just a few steps from the slide. He looked at the roof of the building and noticed the sign there. “Nation-“He realized he was talking out loud again and tried to stop it. National Guard Depot, huh? Why, I bet I’d find- his thoughts were interrupted by a sound. At first he thought he was just imagining it, so he continued to walk towards the huge structure. In front of him was a metal fence with barbed wire on the top. On the other side of the fence are four convoy vehicles, from which one was almost half what it used to be. Man, I guess not even the vehicles are safe from looters. He knew he weren’t going to be able to climb over the fence, so he decided to go around it from the left. But after a few steps more towards the National Guard Depot he heard the sound again which he made out to be a scream. He listened closely to any more sounds and he heard it for the third time; a scream that was fainter now than before. And judging from the tone of the sound, it belonged to a woman. “Ah, jeez… If Boss heard those screams he’d order me to go with him to help her… Or rather that I should go and save her. And I can’t help but feel as if I’d be yelled at later if I didn’t do that even without him commanding me. Always with the dames with that guy…” He remembered his previous thoughts, about Herbert’s reason why they had to travel to Megaton. But once again he decided not to dwell in his thoughts for too long, as he knew that time is of the essence right now. He cleared his mind again and began to move towards the source of the screams; the damsel in distress. The screams came from the North, from the direction he ran away from the raiders. He didn’t like the coincidence, as the woman might’ve been discovered and captured by raiders because of him. As he ran back towards North, he hoped that was not the case, as the numbers of the Raiders went up to a dozen when they started to chase him. He could hear more screaming which appeared to be getting louder, but he wondered how far she could be if all that he could hear was still a faint sound. Are they on the move? Is that why it seems that I’m not getting any closer, despite my hard efforts? He ran under a broken bridge that used to be a highway once and then soon he ran under another one. He looked down from where he was standing now and tried to figure out where she was. One particular structure got his attention, as there were lots of people walking towards it. In the group he saw no other females but the ones wearing the infamous raider outfit, but after scouting a bit more he noticed the strange, yellow coated creature that two of the raiders were carrying inside a metal box made out of, what appeared to be, two shopping carts attached together. I gotta admit, that’s an original cage if I ever saw one. Wait, is that creature… screaming for help? He watched the pack of Raiders as they closed on to the building. He saw no entryway on either of the sides of the building he had vision on, so he knew he had to follow them around the building if they were planning on going northwest or, even worse, inside the building. He decided it was time to put his sneaking skills to the ultimate test, but before he got the chance to get closer he noticed the raiders going for their weapons and firing at something in front of them. What are they shooting at? Oh, Giant Mutated Ants. The radiation has caused small ants to turn many times larger than they were before the nuke. The Workers were now the size of a six-year-old child and the Warriors and Soldiers, who protect the Workers, were almost as big as a full-grown adult if not larger. Ant hills are too hard to make when one ant is that big, so they find an abandoned house or a building and make it an “ant hill” of their own. The Raiders kept firing, killing the ants as they came. But their numbers were superior and soon they had the Raiders surrounded. “What’s happening? What are those loud bangs?! Please, let me go!” pleaded the mysterious creature inside the homemade cage, whose eyes were indeed blindfolded. But its words were not heeded, as only one raider was now carrying it while the other raiders tried to clear a way. They managed to do just that and the pack of raiders quickly ran away from the ants, towards the North side of the building by following the Eastern wall. “Crap! I can’t lose them! I’ve got to get past those ants and follow them, before this whole place gets dark!” said Argyle, noticing how quickly the day is turning out to become a night. He had to act fast, before his vision is reduced to nothing and he loses sight of the woman he’s trying to save, wherever that woman is within the pack of raiders. Argyle, instead of running towards the raiders, crouched down and began to sneak his way towards a position, from where he could see the Northern side of the building, in an arc-form. He didn’t mind sneaking in the wide-open area, as it was dark enough for him to sneak past the Raiders and ants without being noticed. He found a good rock to hide behind and just in the nick of time; the Raiders had been clearing their path from the seemingly never-ending amount of ants and they were forced to run inside the building from the door on the Northern-side of the building. Argyle knew he had to act fast, but he saw no way of getting past the ants. But that thought didn’t last for long, as soon after the surviving raiders got inside the building the ants outside began running towards the Southern and the Western sides. Wait a minute… If this is their “home”, does that mean they have made a hole that connects the inside to the outside, by any chance? I’d better move fast, it shouldn’t take them long to get inside the building if that’s the case! He saw no more ants in his way, so he started sprinting towards the entrance. When he got to the entrance, he carefully listened through the door if the Raiders were in the next room or they’d gone deeper into the facility. The facility he had entered was built quite straightforwardly. In front he could see a reception on the left wall and stairs on the right. The stairs were connected to a catwalk above the reception table and Argyle, which led to a room that was filled with broken computers and rusted desks. Further down from the reception desk was another set of stairs, and they ended at the same altitude the other stairs ended. Running at full-speed without letting his body get used to it before is taking a toll on Argyle now. He’s getting exhausted once again, but this time he didn’t have time to rest. He had to keep moving he were to save the woman screaming for help. Where is this dame, I haven’t seen her yet. Just where is she? He suddenly heard a scream. But not just one scream, a scream that was composed by men and women screaming together. He dragged his exhausted body deeper into the building, up the stairs at the other side of the entrance. At the top of the stairs, a path on the left lead to the same direction the catwalk did, but there was a rusted car placed there as well for display. How long has that rust bucket been there? Something was written on the plate in front of the car, but Argyle did not feel like walking over there to find out what it said, especially with the dame in need of rescue. On the right was a door that seemed to be jammed shut very tightly from the other side, and right in front of Argyle was another wooden door. He noticed the screams came from the other side of this door. He carefully opened the door and saw another room which was almost completely empty, aside from the counter on the far-right corner. This must’ve been the room where the bastards that used to call themselves “workers” used to take their lunch breaks. On the right of the counter was a metallic door, from which behind came loud screams and gun fires. Readying himself for anything behind that door and keeping himself well-hidden, Argyle closed in on the door and opened it quickly but quietly. What he saw past the glass in front of him was something he thought he’d never see; the raiders were unloading all of their ammo onto the surrounding Ant Warriors and Ant Soldiers. But most of them were focused toward an ant that was at least ten times bigger than the previously mentioned protector ants. The huge ant, the one bigger than the rest, was spewing acid towards the raiders, corroding their armors and burning through their flesh. That… That must be a Giant Mutated Ant Queen! Oh man, this day’s getting worse by the minute... Those Raiders don’t stand a chance. Around the ants and Raiders were various sizes of tires and components that were used in vehicles. Before the war, the facility was used to build the latest vehicle models that were popular back in 2077. Now it has been reduced to nothing but a makeshift anthill where humans were screaming and giving out war cries while desperately shooting at giant ants. But to no avail, as a few Raider’s will to fight ended with either acid melting his or her skull or one of the Warriors or Soldiers dislocating their neck with their powerful, mutated jaws. He couldn’t take his eyes off the bizarre match-up which he was witnessing, but a rattling sound from his right made Argyle look to that direction in under a split-second. Though his reaction to the sound was very quick, it took him a few seconds to register what he saw. The noises were made by a yellow-coated, small four-legged “horse” that was trapped in-between two shopping carts. Then it hit him; it was the homemade cage in which the Raiders were carrying the strange creature he saw outside the facility. Upon seeing it up-close, he confirmed his doubts that she was, indeed, blindfolded. “Please, let me go! I don’t like what I’m hearing!” The creature was getting panicky and tried to force its way out of the cage. Argyle suddenly realized that it wasn’t a woman that pleaded for help; it was this creature that sounds like a woman. This thing can talk? What am I thinking at a time like this?! That thing must be the one asking for help, so I gotta help her, since I’ve come this far. Argyle quickly sneaked next to the cage and said, “Listen, you little thing. I’ll help you out of here, but you have to stay quiet. Even though those guns are loud, and the screams even louder, either party might turn their attention to us if they hear us.” He then immediately took a bobby pin and a screwdriver from his pocket and started a battle of life-or-death with the locks that were keeping the two carts together. Click, one locked was open before the creature even nodded in agreement while trying to hide the fact that she was startled. Poor thing, she didn’t expect my voice, did she? Click, click, two more were removed in the time the creature took a deep breath and exhaled it. Click, the last one popped open and Argyle proceeded to quickly, yet soundlessly, removing the top cart away from the creature, giving it the freedom it had been pleading for the whole event. Argyle’s experience in lock-picking came in handy in this dire situation, as it only took him ten seconds flat to unlock all four of the locks. Argyle then proceeded to trying to peel the blindfold off from the mystical creature’s eyes, but it was tied up too tightly with a complex knot. He judged that it would take him too much time to try and take it off by hand, especially in the middle of a brutal skirmish, so he planned on being the her eyes for the moment. He decided this was the quickest and safest way to get them out of the facility, even if it was a bit cruel to the horse-like being. With the guns still blazing in the background and the screams still loud, but less due to casualties, Argyle made his move. He told the thing, “Okay, listen up. That blindfold looks like it’s been tied down tightly with tricky knobs. I won’t be able to get it off your eyes before I carefully slice it open. But right now, we have to move! Here, I’ll carry you.” This was to ensure that it would not be startled by being carried again. “Thank you, my name is Daring Do.” responded the horse-like creature, not sure about what to say with all the thoughts rushing through her mind at the same time. “Save the introduction for later. I need to focus right now in order to get us out of here alive.“ Daring Do said nothing in reply. She’s smart, I gotta give her that. Argyle was expecting her to try to give some explanation or apology or something similar, yet he was left in peace to continue the task at hand. Argyle went straight for the door and closed it behind him, making the sounds on the other room become fainter. Now that were out of there, getting to the exit should be a piece of cake. I mean, what could possibly stand in our way now? He walked to the other side of the room pretty relaxed, even though still tired. But after opening the door he immediately regretted the jinx he just did to himself; the Worker Ants from the outside had finally gotten inside the building and now were in the way of the escape door. He knew he had to resort to his fists in order to get out of this one. “Listen to me, Bos- I mean Daring! There are big ants in front of our path and I’ll have to kick their giant, mutated asses if we are to get to that door. Stick close to me! I’ll need to use my fists so I can’t carry you at the same time!” As he lowered Daring Do to the ground behind him, she nodded in acknowledgement and, instead of trying to stay as close to him as possible, she decided to back away from him just a little. Not because she knew he’d need space to fight in, but because of the horrible stench that came from him when he held her in his arms. She knew that all that she needed to stay in contact with the helpful, but horrible smelling being, was her sharp ears. And she knew she could rely on them, even with the gunshots and screaming going on behind her. Argyle rushed towards the first Worker Ant in the way, who was at the top of the stairs, which he punched right to the face with full-force, crushing the skull of the worker and making it stagger back. He then proceeded to follow his first punch with another one as powerful. The blow was so hard that it literally smashed the ant’s head into millions of pieces that flew around as if you’d just hit a watermelon with a baseball bat. The corpse of the ant was sent flying down the stairs, knocking a few fellow ants off their balances and causing a problem in their formation. But Argyle knew it wasn’t over. That was just the first, and there are at least a dozen more to clear from their path. He pushed on down the stairs while dodging the onslaught of attacks from the ants, finally grabbing one from the neck and snapping it in an instant, leaving only a huge CRACKK behind. He then immediately released his grip and targeted the next neck to be twisted. He lunged at his target and ended its life as quickly as the previous ones’. However, there were too many for him. The ants were cornering him at the bottom of the staircases, so he had to resort to the few frag grenades he had with him. He quickly backed up to the top of the stairs, released the safety pin from all of the grenades he had with him, five in total, and threw them onto the floor downstairs to cause havoc while keeping himself and Daring do away from the blast-radius and knocking back ants that were trying to get into the firework’s radius. The results were devastating, clearing out almost all of the ants from their way, leaving only a few crippled ants alive that were far from the staircases and fewer closer to the stairs. Then Argyle heard the annoying creaking of an oiling-requiring door being slowly opened. Is someone behind us?! He quickly turned around to see that the door he had shut close was now open and a Warrior Ant was heading towards Daring Do. “Daring, look out! Behind us is a Warrior Ant!” yelled Argyle while quickly trying to finish off the ant he had a clutch on in order to reach her in time. Upon hearing that, Daring Do immediately released her wings and got airborne, flew up as high as she could before hitting her head on the ceiling. Argyle was already rushing towards the Warrior Ant that was trying to attack them from behind. Only when he noticed that his fist’s path to the ant’s head was crystal-clear did he realize that Daring had disappeared somewhere. His blow connected, ending the Warrior’s life in a single blow which caused him to fly back into the other room from where it came from. Argyle then looked around left and right, down the stairs and was wondering where she was. He then wondered if those things on her back really were wings, so he looked up and found Daring Do all the way up in the ceiling. Stunned by the new discovery, Argyle said, “What? Daring, you… You can fly? Never mind, stay up there for a while! And come to me when I say the escape route is reachable!” More Worker Ants had appeared in their path while Argyle was focused on the Warrior Ant and took his time looking for the “disappeared” Daring Do. “O-okay!” she responded while rubbing the pain off her head. She could hear the sounds of bones crushing, limbs being torn apart and war cries followed by blows that always seem to send something flying towards the nearest wall. She was lucky that the raiders did nothing to harm her, especially her wings which were keeping her alive through this moment where she had no vision. “Okay, we can reach the door now! Fly towards my voice!” “R-right!” she responded and pointed herself towards the voices. Daring Do swooped down, aiming herself towards the source of Argyles voice. He grabbed her, but she dived too fast and ended up head-butting him hard to the stomach. “Oomph! You… you came down too fast… Ohh…” “Sorry, mister! It’s just that I thought that time is of the essence, so I couldn’t waste time on descending slowly!” Argyle opened the door, quickly went to the other side and closed the door quicker. The gunshots were now fewer than before, most likely due to the raiders fighting a losing battle. But Argyle paid no attention to that. He knew he had to get away from the wretched place before the ants emerge outside once again. He went for the rock he hid in before advancing into the building, and he walked towards it as fast as he could. But his strength was running out, as for almost the past twenty minutes since his rest on the slide had he been pushing his body to the limit physically. In addition to that, the head-butt delivered accidentally by Daring Do was making it harder for him to breathe, but he knew he was not done yet. He finally got to the rock that was perfect for hiding behind in, and just in time too. Warrior and Worker Ants were appearing outside the building, searching for any traces of the trespassers. They looked and looked, but found no one. Argyle knew from the beginning that his stealth skills were to be put to the ultimate test, so he took the liberty of making sure that he uses everything in his arsenal to make sure he’ll be able to make a safe escape from the Raiders and the ants, with or without the damsel. But he didn’t save a dame in the end; he saved a small horse which had wings on its back. And it could fly too. The night had fallen in perfectly. He remembers where the National Guard Depot is located and he knew that it was near a place where he and Daring Do would be safe for the night. After regaining his breathing rhythm he decided it was time for them to move that way. The ants had calmed down and gone back inside the building. Most like it was their time to hit the hay and call it a day. Argyle grabbed Daring Do once more and they headed towards the safe-zone. After all that had happened to him, Argyle felt like the trip was nothing. But the opposite could be said for Daring Do. The horrible stench that came from her savior was unbearable and made the relatively short trip seem like an incredibly long one. As soon as they stopped and Argyle placed her on the ground, she tried to walk away from him in a quick pace. But Argyle, though he did put her on the ground, was grabbing one of Daring Do’s wings, as if she’s not allowed to go yet. “Whoa, hang on, smoothskin! I haven’t even taken away the blindfold yet. Will you stop moving and stand still; I might cut one of your eyes if you’re squirming like that…” “Oh! Um… Okay. It’s just that… well… you kind of reek. I can’t stand the stench anymore… Even though the air here is disgusting, it smells fresher than you do! Oh, um, not that you’re bad or anything! What I mean is-“ “Simmer down, smoothskin! You’re not the first who wants to stay away from me because of the smell. But I can’t help it! Not with my condition, at least…” “Condition?” “I figure you’ll find out about it soon enough. Now stand still.” After Daring Do finally stopped moving, Argyle pulled out a knife as if from nowhere and carefully placed it between Daring’s left side of the head and the tightly tied blindfold. He then proceeded to carefully moving the knife back and forth until the blindfold broke into two and gently fell on the ground from Daring’s eyes. As mysteriously as he made it appear, he made the knife disappear, as if he never had one on him in the first place. “Whew! I can see again!” She blushed after saying that, as it was hard to see anything anyways because night had set in. Then she remembered what she was able to see in the daylight before the Raiders caught her. The memories froze her in her place, rendering her unable to even move an inch and drawing the redness off her face. “…Well? Aren’t you gonna thank me?” asked Argyle with his unchanged, raspy voice. Daring Do just stood there motionless without saying anything more. But she opened her mouth eventually. “I… I can’t believe this… When I first saw this place, I thought I was only dreaming. Then those “things” were running towards me and they kidnapped me…” “’Things’? You mean Raiders? Speaking of things, what are you? You look like a horse, but as far as I know horses never had wings. Wait… Are you one of those robot horses that some of those rippled advertisements I've seen here and there are advertising?” Having some breathing space gave Daring some time to think about things. What happened just now and how did she end up to this place from the comfort of her home. She walked towards the swing set that was in front of her, which she could just barely make out. She then tried to sit on it as best as she could but after too many failed attempts she decided to just sit on the ground. Though Argyle knew this was a sad moment for the alien creature, he found the failed attempts to be rather amusing. He wondered if the creature had even seen what he looks like yet, as he hasn’t heard a single scream or the word he hates the most in the Capital Wasteland, if not in the world; zombie. “Equestria… This is not Equestria, is it?” “Equestria? What’s that supposed to be? A land full of… horses? Heh-heh.” Argyle asked that halfheartedly, as he was only kidding at this point. But the tone of his voice made Daring exhale a long, sad sigh as she seemed to become more camouflaged to the ground. Oh boy, I shouldn’t have said that… I guess there is really a place where horses still exist… “I’m sorry. I assume you really are from this… Equestria? Where is it, precisely?” he continued after a short moment of silence. “I… I don’t know. All I remember is making a wish after seeing a shooting star fly in the sky. Then suddenly this bright light came out of nowhere and sucked me in itself! And the next thing I know, I’m in some place where every building seems to be destroyed, all trees charred and a foul stench is constantly in the air! And the pony that rescued me smells even worse! I hate this!” “Whah? I told you before; I reek because of my condition and because of my condition ONLY! But calling me a “pony”… Now, that was uncalled for!” “…You’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t think any pony could be so tall anyway, even when standing on two legs.” Argyle was impressed with the horse’s speculations. Despite being blind the whole rescue operation, Daring had been paying attention to even the small details that were present to be sensed. “Ah, don’t worry about it. So… You say you strangely arrived to one of the worst places to be in by accident?” “That’s what I said,” replied Daring and gave another sigh right behind it. “Well, don’t you worry smoothskin. Since it was basically my fault those Raiders found you, I’ll help you get back to your home… wherever it is. I’m sure Boss won’t mind having you around with us in our adventures.” One word from that sentence caught Daring Do’s attention; adventures. She pondered for a moment and came to the conclusion that her gut feeling was telling her the truth; she should’ve never even thought about starting to go onto adventures, as her guts were telling her it would be a painful way to commit suicide in the end. Why? Why is this happening to me? All I wanted was an adventure with no danger... Argyle was still talking while Daring Do was lost in her thoughts, so as she came back to reality he heard something that might’ve been the cause to her being in this wretched place. Uncertain of whether or not she heard it correctly, she asked her savior, “Did you say you would protect me from any danger?” “Yes I did. Because, well... It was kinda my fault that you were in that unpleasant situation.” “When that shooting star went by, I wished that I would have a sidekick that would protect me from all dangers... Do you think this is the reason I’m here or, more precisely, why you came to rescue me?” Argyle was surprised to hear that. He always believed that things, even his condition he still fins unacceptable, happen for a reason, so he had no doubts about it. But learning that he might be the reason Daring Do was brought to Capital Wasteland made him feel guiltier, so he made it his never-ending goal to ensure that Daring Do got back to her home. As he was about to say something, he noticed how he had pushed his body too far as he began wobbling and feeling heavier by at least two-fold. “Daring, listen. Don’t worry about those things now. I know it’s hard to believe that you’ve ended up in a place that might be far away from your home. But I’m sure we can both agree that it should wait until tomorrow. It’s been a rough night, we should get some sleep.” Argyle let out a yawn with breath that would’ve probably killed plants outright if any were still growing. “Sleep? HERE?” “Yeah. Don’t worry about finding a bed; I think that space shuttle is a safe place for you to sleep in. It’ll be hard to kidnap you from those small holes and it’s probably a lot more comfortable than the ground or that bed over there under the debris.” “But won’t it get cold?!” “Sure, it might be January now... and Januaries used to be cold at some time. But here in the Capital Wasteland it seems as if it’s always summer. It never rains, either, thanks to those damn nuclear bombs. So don’t worry about getting cold or wet. While the days can be unbearably hot, the nights are usually just the perfect temperature to sleep in. And besides, it’s so dark out here that you can barely see your hands in front of you. So whaddya say?” “Well... I guess sleeping with you protecting me won’t be a problem. But you’d better protect me from ANYTHING that might be out to get me! I need to sleep uninterrupted or it feels like I haven’t slept at all.” “Hah-hah! Fine. Sounds like a deal. I’ll be sleeping on this comfortable slide. Why do the kids get all the good stuff?” The two set out to find their “beds” in the almost-pitch-black-darkness, which was a little challenging for Daring Do since she didn’t have the leisure to see the place in the daylight unlike Argyle did. Eventually she found the shuttle and flew inside the small space that was inside it. Before falling asleep, she wanted to know one more thing. “Hey, mister. This might be a bit odd thing to ask so late... But I don’t think you ever told me your name. “That’s because I never got the chance. The name’s Argyle. Nice to meet ya, Daring Do. Oh, and good night.” With that, the two fell almost simultaneously into deep slumber. They both had a rough night, so it’s no wonder. Once both of them wake up, their new journey together will start until Argyle finds Herbert and the duo becomes a trio.