Minefield

Minefield, formerly known as Ridgefield, is a nearly abandoned settlement filled with land mines. Travelers avoid the area due to its reputation for being dangerous, "cursed," and haunted.

Background
Before the Great War, the isolated township of Ridgefield was a quiet community nestled in to the hillside, far away from any major roads. More than a century later, a tribe of military survivors stumbled across its remains while traveling from the north. They quickly realized the value of a defensible, hidden location, and decided to make it their own.

After the slavers of Paradise Falls discovered the community, they conspired to raid it for captives. Its inhabitants were all captured except for a single survivor, a small boy by the name of Arkansas. Arkansas managed to hide, and later vowed revenge. He implemented a plan to make the town a deathtrap for the slavers. He filled the town with land mines, then spread rumors of a new band of inhabitants and waited. When the slavers came to raid the town, they were harried by a hidden sniper and decimated by landmines. The slavers took heavy casualties that day and never came back. The town became known as a ghost town avoided by all thanks to its reputation for being haunted, cursed and full of explosives. Traders eventually gave it a new name, "Minefield," and its sole inhabitant Arkansas, now an old man, still guards the town. Decades later the ruins would be visited by the Lone Wanderer, seeking a landmine for their work on the Wasteland Survival Guide by Moira Brown. The slavers would not remain completely ignorant of Arkansas, although they would never attempt to capture him. Grouse would consider him a high value target.

Layout
Minefield consists of half a dozen houses (four of which are accessible) built around a curving road, with a playground in the middle between the road. Mines are situated on the road, as well as in other parts of the area. The sniper, Arkansas, is situated near four ammunition boxes on the top level of a partially-destroyed building overlooking the road from the north.

The settlement has four explorable houses: Benson house, Gibson house, Gillian house and Zane house, all of which contain valuable loot, including Pre-War Books, medical supplies and an Assault Rifle. Their interiors follow the same basic plan as the houses in Tranquility Lane and Andale.

Each home contains an Easy-locked safe. In the Benson and Gibson houses, the safes are behind an upstairs dresser and contain pre-War money, ammunition and occasionally a Stealth Boy. In the Gillian house, the safe is upstairs under the double bed, while in the Zane house, it is behind the dresser in the first-floor office. All houses contain at least one pre-War book and one skill book.

Loot

 * There are a total of 67 Frag Mines found scattered around the town.
 * For crafting needs, there are at least 10 leaf blowers, 12 lawn mower blades, 9 pressure cookers and 5 vacuum cleaners in and around Minefield.
 * There are 3 bottles of Nuka-Cola in the building that Arkansas is holed up in, next to the mattress.
 * There are four skill books and nine Pre-War Books in Minefield:
 * Zane house (Average locked): A Pugilism Illustrated can be found in the children's room on a teddy bear's lap. A pre-War book is located in the front room.
 * Gillian house (Average locked): Two pre-War books are in the front room, one on the bookshelf and the other on a table. A Grognak the Barbarian can be found on the child's bed upstairs.
 * Gibson house (Very Easy locked): A copy of Tumblers Today is on a desk, and four pre-War books can be found—one in the front room, one in the children's room on the bookcase, one in the master bedroom's bathtub and the bedside table.
 * Benson house (Hard locked): A pre-War book is on top of a first floor bookcase, while a D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine and a pre-War book is located in the upstairs master bedroom.

Related quests

 * Wasteland Survival Guide
 * Strictly Business

Appearances
Minefield appears only in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * The names of the houses in Minefield are references to the Hideo Kojima game Snatcher.
 * In the Capitol Post building in L'Enfant Plaza, the decapitated body of Gibson sitting with his head between his legs can be found, with a note on it that says "SEARCH THE HOUSE." This is identical to a scene in Snatcher. The house in the game also had a miniature house model. "Gibson" refers to Jean Jack Gibson, a character from Snatcher. Gillian's house refers to Gillian Seed, the protagonist of Snatcher. Benson is the name of two characters from the game as well (either Benson Cunningham the chief or Harry Benson the engineer). The name of the last house, Zane, however, is not used in Snatcher.