Minefield

Head north from Megaton to Springvale School. Clear out the Raiders outside and enter the school. Ignore the lower level door for now.

Inside Springvale School, defeat the Raider and grab the Nuka-Cola Quantum from the caged area. Continue east, defeat the Raider with the Springvale School Key, and use it to unlock the next set of doors.

Defeat the Raider beyond the locked doors to get the Springvale Basement Key and the 'Springvale Raider Mining Log' note. Loot the desk for a copy of Duck and Cover! and interact with the terminal.

Explore the lower levels of Springvale School, specifically the south-easternmost classroom, to find a Sheet Music Book on an overturned metal desk. Use either of the two staircases in the north-eastern part of the level to descend.

Use the Springvale Basement Key to unlock the door to the east, leading to caves filled with Ants. Proceed east to a large chamber with Ant Egg Clutches and dead bodies. Defeat the attacking Ants.

Loot the northern passage in the cave for an Assault Rifle, Jet, Stimpaks, and a Chinese Army: Spec. Ops. Training Manual hidden under a dead Wastelander.

Leave Springvale School and head north-west to find Big Town. Cross the rope bridge on the northern side, being wary of Dusty.

Talk to residents in Big Town to learn about their struggles and gain a map marker for Germantown Police HQ. Note that quests like “Big Trouble in Big Town” and locations like Little Lamplight and Paradise Falls are not covered yet. You can attempt a Speech challenge with Pappy after talking to Bittercup.

Enter Red’s Clinic in Big Town. You can attempt to heal Timebomb if your Medicine skill is 40 or higher, or leave him. Loot the note “We got the tech, now we need the doc.” from a desk and find a D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine on a kitchen table.

Leave Big Town and head west, then north, following the road until you find a ruined truck with a leveled Super Mutant. Continue north-west to find the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema.

On a picnic table at the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema, find a copy of Pugilism Illustrated.

Head south-west from the Moonbeam Outdoor Cinema to find Fordham Flash Memorial Field. There is a Raider with a Baseball Bat and some baseball items, but nothing special.

Backtrack to the river and follow it east, past the collapsed bridge near the Super Mutant truck. Cross the next bridge and turn east on the northern bank to find shacks occupied by Raiders. Loot them.

Return to the bridge and head north-north-west towards a chapel to find the Hallowed Moors Cemetery.

Inside the Hallowed Moors Cemetery, free a Wasteland Captive for karma. Loot a D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine from a bookshelf, find ammo boxes and Frag Grenades. A Chinese Assault Rifle is on a bed. On the pulpit, find the Keller Family Transcript (2 of 5) and a Big Book of Science. A Mini Nuke is in a wooden crate near a Ham Radio.

Head south-east to find the Meresti Trainyard. This location is for fast travel purposes and will be revisited for a quest.

South-east of the Meresti Trainyard, in a ruined house bathtub, find a copy of Tumblers Today.

Travel north to find Agatha's House, accessible via a rope bridge over a chasm.

Speak with Agatha. She may ask you to find a violin. You can attempt a Speech challenge for access to her ammo box or pick the lock later. She will reveal the location of the Vault-Tec Headquarters.

Backtrack across the rope bridge west, then head north-east to the suspended railway. From there, head east to the Scrapyard.

In the Scrapyard, loot the junk. You will find Dogmeat, whose owner is killed by Raiders. Some Raiders carry nice loot, including a Scoped .44 Magnum. Near a destroyed bus and red boxcar, find John’s Treasure Box (requires John’s Key or a Hard Lockpick skill). Inside are three books: Grognak the Barbarian, Guns and Bullets, and U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes. Take Dogmeat to a safe location.

A locked building in the south-eastern Scrapyard requires the Contract Killer perk to enter, granting access to Lying, Congressional Style.

Head north-north-west from the Scrapyard to reach Minefield.

Pass Minefield and head north to the MDPL-13 Power Station. Enter the western-most building, the Power Substation, to find the Schematic - Railway Rifle. The computer and locked safe require higher Science or Lockpick skills.