Rebuild Capital Wasteland.

Chapter 10: Megaton

TLW decided that he would make the trip before nightfall if he hurried. He took up his backpack and put it on his shoulder. It weighted enough to take out some of the fatigue, but was lightly enough to not slow him down. Tree-dog had also put in some water and food for the trip. He was good to go.

He had several choices to get to Megaton. Either go around the barricade and take the bridge over the river and then basically follow the road too Megaton. It was a safe area now with over three checkpoints with soldiers guarding the route, but it was also an hour detour. He then decided to take the ferry from behind the Lincoln memorial, go through the Arlington cemetery and pass Greyditch. It was the safer route and it was also the one people took when they going to work on the other side of the rider or around the "breadbasket."

It was a nice change of pace to actually get around the countryside of the mall. Greyditch had become the place where the farmers and ranch owners around the "breadbasket" area came to trade and to get their essentials. He did not go through it this time but instead went to another place that he had visited before. The Super-duper mart. The deserted shopping centre that was once a raider camp and a place were lots of people were tortured and killed. Not it was abandoned. Unlike most of the other ruins of the Capitol Wasteland, there was no concrete plans on what to do with this building. Everything of value had a long time ago been removed and it was only a shell of a building now. TLW stopped for a second and watched it and let his thought wander for a second. Then he continued on his journey. Megaton was only a hour away now.

As he walked down the road he had to notice the changes that were being made. He had taken a detour looking at Super-duper mart, but when he again came onto the main trade route things had changed. First of all there were unarmed people walking the roads. That itself was a modern day miracle. But the road itself had been much better. On about 80% of the distance stone or cement had been laid so it made the walk much easier and much faster. There were checkpoints where armed soldiers was standing by incase the rare threat of radio scorpions attacked, something that happened less and less frequently. Behind Megaton the ranch had start spreading and was growing into the borders of the town. The backside of the wall that protected the city had been removed, creating opportunities to expand the city. The entrance had been previously been protected by a robot and a sniper, but now there were to easy barracks with atleast 20 soldier standing guard. The machinery that closed the main entrance was still there though, ready to be closed on moment notice.

The city itself had changed. Simms who often patroled the city alone needed help from atleast five people every day just too keep the presence in the street. The crime rate had first increased and then decreased when Simms reorganized the Regulators from operating in the wasteland to be a kind of marshal of the law in small settlements. Now Megaton was the biggest settlement outside of the mall and a place for people to get away and stay for a different perspective of life. The waterworks had also been changed to meet the demands of an ever growing city. But thanks too the Jefferson memorial project there was enough water to the wasteland for at least two or three generations. A pipeline was made and pumped water into the city and created also the one thing people outside the vaults never had experienced, a warm shower.

TLW was enjoying this luxury for the first time since he had left the vault, his house was just as he left it, and he for once felt a relaxation about everything was fine for the first time in a long long time. Afterwards he sat down on a couch, thinking about everything that had happened until now. He was going to look at the receiver tower but needed some time for himself first. Hell, he would fix it right away to get be done with it. He dressed up in his jumpsuit that had the numbers on the back worn out after a long use. He considered equipping a gun, he still needed to do that but it was maybe a matter of time before the need inside a settlement of being armed was gone. There was at least three regulators and one army soldier standing guard at the center of megaton. They actually had a booth were there always was a soldier at duty so people at Megaton could run there if the need for protection arise. He walked down the aisle to the center where the bomb once was. The cafeteria was still there but had increased their business to expand to a second floor and they also had refurnished the place so it looked a little less dirty, and the business was blooming thanks to those things.