Writing takes practice, Bacon. The more you write, the better you'll get, trust me. I really like your story idea about a turned Human in Vault 87. (I'll comment on your thread in a minute )

@ Gingy, oh wow, you really know how to string us along and how to get your story moving. I also love the idea that everything is PRE New Vegas, so to speak... Nipton is still a normal town, not over-run by Legion, the NCRCF is still under NCR control... Hopeville is still full of hope...

It seems that I'm holding my breath, unsure whether I should enjoy the calm before the storm... knowing what's to come!

I also think that the small verses/poems/lyrics you place on the end of each chapter are an extremely nice touch! I might have to copy that idea!

You offer great advice, where are all your stories?

Thanks! And my stories are in my head! LOL Seriously, I need to get back into writing, haven't really done much lately. BUT you all are so inspiring! I am tossing around some ideas right now!

When I write a story, doing things from the perspective of something not human has always been my bread and butter when it comes to writing my terrible stories!

Gingy... don't let The Courier bleed to death! Where's the next chapter?

Don't worry. Two chapters will be released later this afternoon

Chapter 5-Ignorance

I drop to the floor, clutching my wrist. A mass of blood must have clotted on my way to Nipton, and it is finally being released. Skorpio has no knowledge of the incident, as he is fast asleep, but Brad turns and notices my predicament. He grabs a cloth from the nearby table, and wraps it around my wrist. It's no use. The massive amounts of blood ruin the integrity of the cloth. Brad helps me downstairs and out of the general store, then walks me across the street and into Doctor Retzer's house.

"Doctor..." says Brad. Retzer comes into view from the living room of his house.

He sees my hand. "Oh, god. Okay. Bring him over here," he replies. Rezter and Brad both help me up to what appears to be an emergency stretcher.

"Just trust me on this, Brad," he says. The doctor restrains my hands and legs on the sides of the stretcher. I can't move. "You can go now, Brad, I'll take this from here," says the doctor. Brad nods, and leaves the house.

Retzer opens a cabinet and pulls out another tourniquet. However, he pours a ridiculous amount of alcohol into the wound.

"AHH!," I moan. I can almost HEAR the alcohol burning my skin. I struggle at the restraints that attach me to the stretcher. He then applies the tourniquet.

"I'll be back in a few minutes to check on you," says the doctor. He injects the contents of a stimpak, then leaves the room.

Another figure almost simply appears into my vision. It comes through the door of the medical room, and sits down on the chair next to me. Vulpes Inculta.

I struggle violently at the restraints on the stretcher, but it's no use. Vulpes has me imprisoned like a cornered rat.

"Oh, no need to struggle. I'm not here to kill you," says Vulpes. I raise an eyebrow.

"Before I know I can trust you, tell me what was in the package, Vulpes," I reply.

"Cloud residue..." he replies. My expression changes to surprise. "Not what you would expect though. The contents of that package are quite rare."

"Huh?" I ask. My wrist is in a lot of pain, and I don't feel like elongating any sentences.

"There's only a small whiff of cloud residue in that box, so it is harmless. But the real cloud? It would spread like a swarm of locusts. It would eventually, after a while, form a much larger cloud. A toxic cloud, lethal to whoever inhales it," replies Vulpes.

"Why simply send out the residue then?" I ask.

"A message to the NCR, although their politicians and soldiers are too pathetic to determine the real message. The scientists, however, that's a different story. The scientists of the OSI eventually will know exactly what it is, and where it came from," says Vulpes.

"What is the message, then? And how is it important enough to pay that many caps for?" I ask.

"The scientists of the OSI will know exactly what I have sent them. I'll give you the short story, then, Courier. One of our Frumentarii gained information, but not access, to an Old World casino called the Sierra Madre. The outside of it is a radioactive hell, but inside, it is one of the greatest treasure chests left on this earth. The reason the Sierra Madre survived is because of this cloud. Which is interesting. It preserves structures, weapons, and technology, but it decimates all life. A perfect weapon for the Legion, is it not?" asks Vulpes.

I gulp at the thought of this. "What is the message, then?" I repeat.

"It's a message to the OSI, that the Legion is a lot more than a physical killing machine. Instead of simply giving it to us to that we can give it to them, you have simply thrown it right into the heart of the NCR without even knowing it, Courier. Showing them this, means that we have more than one means of killing them, revealing to the OSI that the NCR's days are numbered," replies Vulpes.

"I don't like either of you, but I can't say that I'm very fond of the NCR, either, Vulpes," I reply. Vulpes gives a wicked smile, then nods.

"Oh yes, the other half of your payment," says Vulpes. He hands me a bag of presumably 2500 caps, as he had promised.

"You didn't do exactly as I asked, so Caesar is fairly furious. He wants me to send a group of assassins to kill you. But, no. I don't want to do that. You're too resourceful, Courier. With that being said, Caesar will want to hunt you down. But without my aid in doing so, it will take him a lot longer to do it. His finding you is inevitable, though," says Vulpes.

I sigh. "There's no pleasing him, is there?" I reply.

"I have one way in which I can grant you amnesty among the Legion," says Vulpes. "The NCR is in possession of a technology that Caesar fears. We discovered this artifact recently, Courier. The last lead we had on it, is that it is in possession of a man named Sergeant Taylor. He was stationed at the NCRCF, but at the time of receiving this item, he moved to the Mojave Outpost to have it in safekeeping. I want you, to steal it. You can kill them all, if you have the guts, and the guns, or you can take a more subtle approach. It's your choice, Courier." says Vulpes.

"Where do you want it delivered?" I ask.

"A place where the NCR will not have the guts to go looking for it. The Divide," says Vulpes. "The NCR want to use it as a route into the Mojave, but the Divide is too harsh of an environment for their soldiers to survive for more than a few days." Vulpes hands me a map of the Divide. It's one I've seen before. He points at a canyon in what appears to be the final stretch of the Divide.

"There is an old passageway that was built by the post-war survivors of the Divide, Courier. A very steep one, that climbs almost directly up the cliff. When you reach the top. there will be an old and broken down house that belonged to some of the survivors," says Vulpes. He hands me a key. "The basemant of the house is very well built, so it will survive no matter what happens in this war. This will unlock the basemant. Place the package inside the basemant, then lock the basemant. Dispose of the key, so that this technology is never heard of or seen again." says Vulpes.

"How will I recognize the package, Vulpes?" I ask.

"The box in which this technology is located in bears the markings of the Divide. You WILL recognize it when you see it." says Vulpes.

"I am guessing that the NCR has confiscated your first half of the payment, so here's something that will make up for it. He grabs a mysterious-looking syringe from a pocket in his Decanus outfit, and injects it almost directly into my chest. I moan a bit, but the medicine is soothing, and numbing. He then opens my restraints, and leaves the room like a puff of smoke in the dark. Due to the tourniquet, my wrist is already feeling better. Perhaps I had misjudged the Legion. Perhaps they CAN be reasonable. At least, more-so than the NCR. This thought is short-lived, because as I am leaving the house, I notice blood in the ruined carpet. I move about five feet and almost step on the corpse of Doctor Retzer. A machete has pierced his heart, and still remains there. I pull the machete out of his chest, and return to the general store.

I don't speak to Brad, and walk into the bathroom. I turn on the sink, and wash the wet blood off of the blade.

I walk back into the room in which Skorpio is still sleeping, and Brad is finishing his tomato soup.

"Retzer is dead. A Legion assassin murdered him," I say. Shock is expressed through Brad's face for a few seconds, but then he understands, and sits down on the chair next to him.

"Well, if it's a REAL Legion assassin, we shouldn't do anything about it. I'm betting he's at least a mile away from here now. Even though this is largely NCR territory, the Legion knows the land better than just about anyone," says Brad.

"I need to go back to my home, Brad," I say.

"Why is that? Tired of the Mojave already?" Brad asks.

"No. I need to deliver something important. Is Skorpio in good enough condition to walk?" I ask.

"No. He won't be able to make much ground until his wound heals, which could be a few days." says Brad.

I curse under my breath. "Then I'm going to head back alone. I need to get there soon," I reply. Brad nods.

"Wait just a minute, Courier. I'll be right back." says Brad. He heads downstairs, and then returns about thirty seconds later with an assault carbine, and a sack of several 5.56 magazines.

"Oh, I almost forgot," says Brad. He pulls a small machine-gun from the sack. "It's a Skorpio."

"Give it to him, Brad," I reply. I point at Skorpio laying on the bed. "He'll need it, if he's ever going to leave this place."

Brad nods, and then sees me out. It's still nighttime. Probably 11:00 or so.

"Be careful, Courier. We're a long way from the Divide, and some things, dangerous things, are only awake in the dead of night." says Brad.

I shake his hand and give him a large handful of caps from the sack of 2,500 that Vulpes has given me.


Just like that, I'm sprinting away from Nipton, alone, in the direction of the Mojave Outpost, while my useless left arm is limping along with me. Perhaps it is not the best tactic to run in the wilderness in the dead of night, as I will soon learn.

To Be Continued in Chapter 6...


"Savor the moment cause the memory's fleeting.
Take a photograph, as the last train is leaving."
-Blink-182 (Easy Target '03)

Will we meet the characters from the Prison later on?

We haven't seen the last of Skorpio, Taylor, or Brad for that manner.

There is one prisoner from the NCRCF that he will cross paths with, but I'm not going to reveal it right now.

Chapter 6- Homeward Bound

(This is the last chapter for today)

After a long while of running, I approach the road that leads upwards into the Mojave Outpost.

"Okay," I whisper to myself. "I'll use the wrecked cars and trucks on the highway as cover, and slowly make my way up to the Outpost." I am not going to dare use the Assault Rifle Brad gave me. It will alert every official in the camp straight-away. The ruined upward-highway is an easy walk, as the constant wrecked cars that line up provide quick and effective cover. I am nearly to the top when I hear footsteps. I open the backseat-door of a nearby car, and lay inside of it. I use the three straps on the back of my leather jacket (previously intended for my service rifle) and attach the Assault Carbine to it. I hold the machete, the one I had scavenged off Retzer's corpse, at the ready. He approaches near the car, and I hold my breath. My left wrist begins to hurt again. I start to moan in pain, but drop my machete, and cover my mouth with my right hand.

"MMM!" is the muffled noise that leaves the car when I moan. I push onto the tourniquet, and pick up the machete. The NCR soldier notices me. He walks in the direction of the noise, which is the car I am currently sitting in. I have no time for thinking. He approaches the front-door window, and opens it. The last action he will ever make. I quietly leave the back door of the car, and slit the soldier's throat. He falls to the ground without a noise. This man is wearing a beret! I must have just killed an officer of sorts. I pick it up off his corpse, and place it on my head. I become carefree as I approach the Mojave Outpost. It's two buildings, so not a very large camp. The NCR soldiers don't notice my face, because of the dark, but a small light coming from the front building shines on my beret, and the soldiers salute. I breathe a sigh of relief.

I enter the larger building, which appears to be an embassy. I pull my beret over my eyes, and walk to the front desk.

"May I help you, sir?" asks the man behind the desk. He's also wearing the beret.

"Yes. I'm here to see Sergeant Taylor. I have disclosed information for him about the technology he holds," I reply, in a more high-pitched voice than I usually use, to avoid recognition.

"You know about the package? Okay, yeah. Go to the hallway to your left, he's in the last room on the left," replies the man behind the desk.

I nod, and walk in that direction. This building is quite poor, especially for a group like the NCR. Different soldiers are sitting in chairs, drinking beer before they presumably head off to their barracks. I enter the hallway, and notice the last door on the left. I open it, and enter. Immediately as I walk in, I notice a chair to my left. I insert it under the door-handle, and observe my surroundings. There are stacks of boxes all around the room, and in the very center, Taylor is enjoying a bottle of scotch. I pull my beret down even further to avoid immediate recognition.

"Can I help you, officer?" asks Taylor.

I walk closer to him, and then I reply, "Yes, you can." I pull off my beret and throw it onto the other side of the room. Before he can react, my machete finds his throat.

"Put your hands where I can see them, or I will mutilate your pathetic body," I say.

Taylor, surprisingly, raises his arms in defeat. "So, you survived out there all by yourself long enough to find my again? Good job."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you now," I reply.

"There's no good reason, scum," says Taylor.

I hear a voice beside me. "Kill him. He has no reason to live." It's Vulpes.

"You are always around, aren't you, Vulpes?" I say. My machete pushes a bit harder on Taylor's neck. Vulpes nods.

Taylor looks confused.

"Who are you talking to?!" he asks.

"Kill him." says Vulpes. I do as he asks, and cut Taylor's throat. I end his miserable life, as he falls to the ground, choking blood. I turn in Vulpes' direction, expecting praise from him, but he's gone. As if he had disappeared. I guess it's in the nature of a frumentarii to be able to move back and forth unseen. And, well, Vulpes is a mysterious man. I look up at the pile of boxes, and look for the one in which Vulpes described. "You WILL know it when you see it. You WILL know it when you see it." These sentences jump in my head. I look around at the boxes, but none stand out. I move a few, and look harder. I do this for about five minutes until I find what Vulpes had described. It's a cardboard box about the size of a computer terminal, bearing the Old World Symbol.

"This is it," I tell myself. I pick up the box. I now start thinking straight. The NCR will know something's up if I walk into a lighted room with this in my hands. I grab the beret and put it back on my head. My eyes turn towards the left wall of the room. A window! Well, I guess it could have been a window at some point. I tear the boards off of the opening in the wall, and climb out, box in hand. I hold the box under my right arm, and walk quickly away from the camp.

***

I approach the Hopeville missile base in the early hours of the morning, after having walked the Long 15 to Primm once more, and enter. The room is the same as I remember it, and I notice the same lever, with the same red light flickering on it. I know better than to pull it this time. I walk through the same hallways of military training rooms, until I reach the iron door that leads to Hopeville. I leave the door and I walk on top of a ten-foot ridge directly in front of it. That's when I gear gun-shots. I drop to my chest, and anolyze the situation. The streets are deserted. Not a person is in sight. I wait a few minutes, and that's when I discern a few figures in the distance. Legionnaires.

"How are you going to handle yourself this time, Courier?" Asks a voice right next to me. It's Vulpes Inculta. AGAIN. He's laying on the ridge next to me.

"I'm going to find Sally," I quietly reply. I take off the NCR beret, and place it on the ground.

"Good choice," says Vulpes. I turn to address him, but again, he's gone. I still have the box in my hands, so I use this to my advantage. I confidently walk up to the group of Legionnaires, and hold up the box.

"I'm ordered by the fearless Vulpes Inculta to deliver this box to a designated area in the Divide," I say. The Legionnaire, whose helmet is adorned in red and white feathers, takes a hard look at the box. Judging by his look, he must be one of the Decanus that Wander spoke of a few months back. I know now that I am standing in front of one of Inculta's assassins. I breathe a sigh of relief. He nods at me, then beckons the group of Legionnaires to follow him. They leave in the direction in which I came. I walk with the terminal-sized box in my hand to the row of three houses that are so familiar in my life. But I notice something very wrong.

There's a row of large makeshift crosses lined up directly in front of the houses.

"Crucifixes," I gasp to myself. They're all empty, except for one. The makeshift cross on the very end is occupied. Occupied by a naked woman. Sally.

"No!" I cry. There are no Legionnaires in sight, so I immediately dash over to it. The cross is a few feet taller than I am, so I climb. She's fairly sunburned, and since its morning, it means that she's probably been on the cross for a while. This makes me hasten my actions. I realize that, thank goodness, she is only tied by two pieces of strong rope. I pull a machete out of my pack, and carefully cut each one. Sally, almost lifelessly, falls to the ground. I climb down the back of the cross, and run my hand on her neck for the sign of a pulse. She's alive. I pick her up, which is now an easy job for me, after hauling Skorpio halfway across Southern Mojave, and carry her to the front door of my house. I open the door, and carry her inside.

I take her up the stairs, and lay her on my bed. I then run back downstairs and grab a few tools and a bobby pin. After about a minute of picking on the lock, I manage to get it locked. I drop the tools and head back upstairs. Sally has her eyes open, but she does not notice me. I go to my wardrobe and find my nuka-cola t-shirt, along with a smaller pair of my jeans, and walk over to her. She is quite stiff, probably because of the cross, so I am forced to put the clothes on her. Once I finish, I run downstairs to the kitchen of my house to find a cloth. I turn on the sink, and dampen it with water. I quickly walk back upstairs, and place it on her forehead. Since I am not in the possession of medical equipment, there is not much I can do. I sit beside her on the bed to wait.


I run my hand on her neck to feel her pulse. I feel something. It's not very dramatic at first, but then, I know it's real. Sally's pulse is beginning to slow down. Drastically.
To Be Continued in Chapter 7....

"All our times have come
Here but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain..we can be like they are"
-Blue Oyster Cult (Dont Fear The Reaper '76)

For the people who read this, the next two chapters are called:

Chapter 7-The Battle for The Divide

Chapter 8-The Battle for The Divide Part Two

It's going to be quite an interesting twist on the Courier's fate with the divide.

(I'm not quite sure when I'll be finished with them. Hopefully tomorrow night if things go really well. No guarantees though, it could be as late as Friday night/Saturday morning)


Small Q+A. A few people IRL I know who read this Fan-Fic asked these questions about Chapters 1-6 and future chapters:

Q: "Why are all the Courier's interactions with Vulpes so sudden and so strange?"

A: Chapters 8-9 will explain. It's actually quite interesting how that whole system works.


Q: "What's in the package that the Courier took to the Divide from Sgt. Taylor?"

A: If you haven't played Fallout: Lonesome Road, you'll never know.


Q: "Is Skorpio going to appear in the story again?"

A: Yes.


Q: "Okay, is Brad going to appear in the story again?"

A: The story hopefully lays out before you that you're going to see both Brad and Skorpio again. Normally, when I name a character, and they don't die, you're probably going to see them again. The manner in which they'll appear? Too much of a spoiler to give that one out.


Q: " One more thing, Is Rune going to appear in the story again?"

A: Nope. He was, in my opinion, a poorly written character. Depending on the outcome of the Battle for the Divide, he's probably going to either be dead, or simply mentioned later in the story. Either way, he doesn't play much of a role.


Q: "Sorry. One more. Are Wander or Sally going to appear in the story again?"

A: Not gonna give any REAL spoilers from the Battle of the Divide. The battle itself is going to be quite dramatic, so anything could happen at this point. I have most of the story laid out before me due to months of imagination, but I can often change my mind while writing.


Q: "How long is this fan-fic gonna last?"

A: As long as I can keep myself interested writing it. It might lose the bit of interest it has now, and that's alright by me. I just have a lot of stories in my head, and I want to get them out there. Eventually, it'll overlap the events of Fallout New Vegas, and then move into a sequel of my Courier's events of the game.


Q: "What faction is the Courier going to choose?"

A: Well, if you have read all six chapters that have been released so far, you'll be able to rule out a few of the factions right off the bat and broadly figure it out.


Q: "Will the Courier meet up with any of the other prisoners from NCRCF?"

A: He's going to cross paths with one of them, for sure.


Q: "What about the 'breakout'?"

A: Well, the "breakout" is supposed to have happened not far too long before the events of Fallout: New Vegas, and since it's 2277, it will be a few years before the convicts escape.


Q: "What are the Courier's thoughts on the Legion?"

A: A bit of a spoiler, so I'll tell you what's already in the text that's been put out. The Courier's standing with the Legion, until Chapter 6, is leaps and bounds better than that of NCR. However, when he discovers that the Legion had attempted to crucify Sally, his hatred for them is going to really be tested during the Battle for the Divide.

I'm open to more questions, as long as they don't involve drastic spoilers.

Wow, lots of stuff happening, lots to think about.

I wonder, was the Divide called "the Divide" even before the nukes tore the earth apart? I thought the explosion created "The Divide"?
Also, you said in Chapter 5 that the Divide is too harsh an environment for NCR soldiers to survive in. Doesn't your story take place BEFORE the disaster?\

I really love your story, GIngy! I can't wait to read the next chapters! Hope Sally pulls through! Damn the Legion! LOL

Oh and as for Vulpes, it almost feels like the Courier imagines him! LOL

Why do you want nothing bad to happen to characters? I may kill Tim just to annoy you

Q+A:

Q: "What can you tell us about Vulpes?"

A: The syringe was that was injected into Connor James by Vulpes was supposed to create some speculation about a lot of his efforts once he left Nipton.


Q: "The Divide is too harsh of an environment for NCR soldiers to survive in. Doesn't your story take place BEFORE the disaster?"

A: There's actually lore in-game behind all of that which you might have missed. The Divide, even before the disaster, had terrible dust storms due to the meteorology experiments that Big MT used before the Great War in the Divide. This is what created most of the marked men and killed the survivors of the post-war Divide. (I think the experiment was called like X-32 or something like that.)


Q: "Was the Divide called 'The Divide' before the Courier's accident?

A: The Courier did not create "The Divide". He created the Courier's mile during Lonesome Road and pretty much wrecked the Divide pre-New Vegas. According the Ulysses, it was called the Divide before the "accident"


Q: "Why do you want nothing bad to happen to characters?"

A: You haven't read the Battle for the Divide yet. I hint subtly.


Oh... The chapters probably won't be ready until Saturday morning. It has been a crazy day for me, and I've had no time to write.

EDIT: Part One will be released Friday night, and Part Two will be released Saturday morning.

EDIT TWO: Part One and Part Two will both be released Saturday morning.

Chapter 6.5- The Beginning of the End

(Simply an intro of what's to come in the Battle of the Divide.)

The heartbeat slowing-factor takes me by complete surprise. I'm stunned for a second, but then I act upon instinct and begin to push on her center-chest. It's all I really can do. She begins to breathe, heavily, but then, after a few seconds, her heartbeat returns to normal. She's now observant of her surroundings. She turns her head slowly to my direction.

"Connor," gasps Sally.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

"Yeah," replies Sally.

I raise an eyebrow. "Why were you on a crucifix?" I ask.

"The Legion and NCR are fighting from opposite sides of the Divide. The Legion occupied Hopeville, while I have no idea where the NCR is. The Legion demanded for us to give them supplies and soldiers." says Sally. She smirks, just like she did during the night we had discovered the television. "I was able to kill a few Legionnaires before I was taken down by a particularly large one. They set me up on the cross, and now you're here. That's basically what has happened."

"How long were you on the crucifix?" I ask.

"They set me up on the cross yesterday afternoon. So, not terribly long, fortunately." says Sally.

I sigh in relief. "But what are going to do, Sally?" I ask. She ponders this for a second.

"Whatever we do, things are not going to be the same around here, Connor. If we help one side win against the other, we'll be forced to live under one. There's no way to cease the fighting, and we don't have enough people to drive them both back," says Sally.

"Hmm..." I reply. Then I remember the package. "Maybe the package that I was ordered to deliver here has some significance. I was ordered to lock it in a basemant in which it would never be found, but perhaps it can give us some sort of edge."

"Where does it need to go?" asks Sally. She rises to a sitting position on the bed. "Ugh." she groans because of the uncomfortable feel of the clothing she is wearing.

"A house in the final canyon of the Divide, past the high-road," I reply.

"Well, we're going to have to fight our way through the Divide, or slip past the Legion AND NCR," says Sally.

"Well, perhaps I should finish this delivery job. According to the Legion, there's a Pre-War safe spot over where this needs to be delivered. Not to mention, I'm almost positive that the NCR is at the root of this," I reply.

Sally nods. "Well, if you know where you need to go, we should start moving before the battle does too much damage to Hopeville," she says. I walk downstairs to find a footlocker, filled up with a few different weapons. I find a 10mm SMG, and pick up a few magazines for it. I carry them upstairs, and hand them to Sally.

"Are you going to be alright?" I ask.

"Yes, although I'm going to need a pair of my OWN clothes if I'm going to walk very far, Connor," says Sally. I tighten the strap on the back of my vest that holds the Assault Carbine in place, and pack a few items into my pack. Sally stands up, and for about twenty-or-so seconds, she tries to get over her light-headed state. I follow her as she shuffles down the stairs, and walks to the door.

"It's locked," I say. I pull a screwdriver and the bobby pin out of my pack, and walk over to the door. It's an easy lock to pick, if you have the know-how and the skill. I open the door, and peek outside to see if there are any Legionnaires nearby. Nope. The streets of Hopeville are empty. With that, we walk over to the house next to mine with the door labeled "Sally Williams". We enter. She uncomfortably walks up the stairs into her bedroom. She's put a lot more effort into decorating it than I have. An old world flag hangs above her double-bed clad in dirty white sheets. One of the four walls in her bedroom are colored with the light-blue paint that I had scavenged from the High Road. She walks to the far side of her room and opens a dresser. She sets the SMG on top of this dresser, and pulls out her preferred outfit. It includes a white tank-top bearing the old-world symbol, a leather jacket, jeans, and a few other clothing items.

Sally sets the few 10mm magazines I had given her on the floor. She begins to change clothes without asking me to leave the room, so I turn in the other direction out of respect. Once she's changed into her new outfit, she taps her finger on my shoulder to let me know she's done. She grabs the SMG and the magazines I had given her, and walks over to a cabinet in the blue-colored section of her room. She grabs a pack and sets the magazines inside of it. The pair of jeans that she is wearing has a buckle on the side, large enough of attack the machine-gun to, and then goes downstairs. I pick up my nuka-cola shirt and jeans she changed out of, and place them in a small pile in the corner of the room. Sally comes back upstairs with a dozen water bottles, gives six to me, and keeps six for herself. We place the water bottles in our packs.

I take a small sip out of one of the water bottles, and place it in my pack. Sally walks back downstairs, and I follow her down. She heads into the kitchen of her house, and pulls canned-food out of the cabinet over her counter. She hands me about five cans of different types of food, primarily beans, and puts a few in her pack as well. She walks to her front door and opens a small box filled with socks. She puts on a pair, then puts on a pair of sneakers. She beckons me over, and I know she's ready to go.


"Whatever happens in this battle, Connor, don't leave me. We have to stay together through this," says Sally.



"Living by the law is a bloody necessary bore
Everybody are you gettin' what you're lookin' for?
Livin' by the rule is somethin' that you gotta do!
But does it matter if we
(Break a rule or two?)
Get up!
Break out!
Don't be the odd one out"

-Def Leppard (Run Riot '87)

Book Two: Freedom is Slavery

Chapter 7- No Gods, No Masters (The Battle for the Divide Part One).

Sally and I begin to walk for the High Road. She doesn't know what to expect, but I do. The High Road will be SWARMING with Legion. The NCR remains a mystery, though. Sally asks me a few times to exchange packs, probably because her biceps are so sore from sitting on the crucifix for hours. I agree, although both of our packs are very lightweight. She has been heavily weakened by her time on the cross.

"Sally, the crucifix has injured you, has it not?" I say. Sally nods. I don't need words to understand that Sally was weak. We enter a large car tunnel, and start walking through. It is a dark, miserable walk through the car tunnel, but after walking for a few minutes, I see light.

"The High Road," I mutter to myself. Before us laid a steep road leading into the High Road. "Ladies first," I say.

Sally chuckles a bit and smiles, and begins to walk upward. She has enough strength to make most of the way up the steep road, but once she's nearly to the top, she drops backwards and nearly falls. She fortunately catches herself before losing her standing-position and makes her way back to the top.

"Is this a hint of things to come?" I ask myself. I pace myself upward after her, and now we have made it to the High Road. We are both careful about walking, as it is a LONG fall from the highway. We continue to walk cautiously until we make it to a wrecked area of what used to be an overpass, even taller than the High Road. There's only a small bit now, but it still stands on top of the road.

"Hide!" I whisper. Sally and I make for the nearby truck and hide behind it. I turn and notice a large red flag with a golden bull engraved on it. Legion. I unstrap the Assault Carbine from my back and aim upwards to further anolyze the situation. There are multiple Legion Snipers staged at the top, some of them wielding throwing spears, the others wielding hunting rifles and sniper rifles. There are too many on top of the overpass to take on our own. We can't go any further. It's then, in which I notice that the support column of the overpass on the left side. It has been severely weakened, and is cracked almost all the way through. However, the column is reinforced with two other small poles trying to keep it in place.

How the hell has it stayed upright so long? It's practically being held by a thread. I laugh, and walk into the view of the Legionnaires. They notice me, and get into position to attack me. I aim my assault carbine at one of the three small-poles holding the left side of the overpass up, and fire at them violently. The cement almost explodes when my 5.56 rounds tear into it. Two of the poles are gone, and the third immediately gives way due to the weight of the Overpass. It falls to the left, and almost completely tumbles off the High Road. Every Legionnaire in the camp, killed in seconds. I admire my tactic, and try to remember it in the future. Smoke engulfs the area, and I try to find Sally.

Sally stumbles into me blindly in the smoke, and we both crouch onto the ground to wait for the smoke to pass, coughing heavily. After a few minutes, the smoke clears, and we realize that the falling overpass has shaved off a large gap in the road. How we're going to get across is a mystery to me, but we make our way to the large gap. I strap my Assault Carbine to my back, and walk to the edge.

It's about a 500-foot drop, so I don't dare get to the VERY edge. Especially because the integrity of the road is quite weak. The gap is about five-to-seven feet wide, and I realize it will be an easy jump for me. Sally?

Well... I guess I'll have to toss her.

"Ladies first," I chuckle. She walks to the edge, and I grab her waste and get ready to toss her.

"3-2-1, jump!" I holler. I toss Sally to the other side, and she makes it with no problem. I then jump, but stumble on a rock at the beginning of the jump.

I fall short of where I had wished to jump, and am now hanging onto the edge. Sally moves over to help me, but it is short-lived. A group of Legionnaires approaches and holds up their weapons to Sally.

"Don't move, profligate," says the Legionnaire to the far right. Sally can't help me now.

"Veteran, this is the degenerate that we placed on the cross!" says another Legionnaire.

"Oh, really? Kill her," says the veteran. I moan for Sally, as I'm frantically trying to gain stability and climb onto the edge.

"With pleasure," says the Legionnaire. He pulls out a 10mm pistol, and aims it at her head. Sally knows that nothing can save her now. She's wrong. From behind, a large line of bullets pierce about 3-of-the-five Legionnaires and kill them immediately. The other two who have been spared from the line of fire, un-sheath machetes from their wastes.

"No prisoners," I hear them both say. They slit their own throats. And for good reason. A squad of NCR soldiers approaches from behind their corpses.

"Are you okay, citizen?" asks the soldier in the center. Sally nods, then points at me. The NCR soldier rushes over to me to pull my helpless self onto the road.

"I hope you're all right, citizens. The Legion WILL pay for this. Anyway, where are you headed?" says the NCR soldier in the middle. He is clad in an NCR uniform with a camouflage mantle, and is wearing a beret.

"I have to deliver a package to the final stretch of the Divide," I reply.

The NCR soldier nods.

"Well, you'll be safe over there. The NCR has complete control over that area, for the time being," says the NCR soldier. "I wish you both luck, and I hope that the Legion does not win this fight, for all of our sakes."

I smile at the soldier, and then the squad, one-by-one, leaps over the gap and begins to walk in the other direction.

Sally pulls the 10mm SMG from her pack and aims at the NCR soldiers. "We can take them," she says.

I use my hand to lower her gun. "No. Let them live. They saved us, so the least we can do is spare them," I reply.

Sally sighs and places the 10mm SMG back in her pack. The High Road comes to an end and we make our way to the Ashton military base, which is currently occupied by NCR. We walk through with no problem, as the NCR lets us by.

There is a thin path in the rocky face of the hilly area around Ashton that leads straight to the Divide. We walk through it, and witness the heart of the Divide. I kneel down, and open my pack. The map that Vulpes had given me has a clear mark on where to go. A path that leads up the side of the canyon? Well, this is a VERY steep canyon, so I begin to believe that we are going to have some trouble. Especially Sally, in her weakened state. We walk into the canyon, which is infested by NCR.

We are allowed to pass, so we make our way through the long path of skyscraqers in the Divide. It's truly amazing to see again, as the canyon is lined almost perfectly with these giant buildings. We're walking through the long stretch when we hear whispering coming from our right side. I go over to investigate the situation, and realize that there are two men hiding behind a large rock that sits next to a skyscraqer. Sedillo and Wander.

"C.J!" whispers Wander. "I'm so glad you're here!" Wander and Sedillo spring out of hiding to come and greet us, but it is short-lived. A line of NCR bullets pierce them, and they both fall to the ground dead. The surprised look on Wander's face, that is stuck with him in death, is horrifying me. A good friend, who I've known since I was as young teen, has now been killed because of the NCR. A group of NCR approaches us, and as I had thought better of them a few minutes ago, it is short-lived once more.

"This is the Legion Courier that Taylor described to the brass.... He must have been the one who stole the Enclave Technology. Kill him, and the spare," says an NCR soldier who is equipped with a ranger hat.

"Oh... no you don't," replies a familiar voice. The ranger's neck is torn open by a knife, then gunshots appear, and the soldiers are dead, hardly even knowing what hit them.

"You trusted the NCR? Really?" asks the same voice. The man turns to me, and it's Skorpio. I smile, and shake his hand.

"Hows the leg?" I ask.

"Better," replies Skorpio. He sees Sally, and it is as if I don't even exist. His posture and face-expression change to someone I hardly even know. "I don't believe we've met. You're Sally... Right? The one that this Courier goes on-and-on about?" says Skorpio.

Sally laughs a little, and replies, "Yes." I ignore the situation.

Even after seeing him for the first time in days, he has become irksome and annoying.

I bury my attention into my map, and try to spot the path that Vulpes mentioned. It's hard to see, at first, but then I discern an extremely steep path of steps leading up the side of the canyon to our right, almost hidden behind a skyscraqer. I point up to it, but again, it's as if I don't exist to Skorpio. I go to him, and tap him hard on the shoulder. I've finally received his attention. I point at the nearly-hidden path up the side of the canyon. He spots it almost immediately.

"I guess we'd better climb, then?" asks Skorpio.

I nod.

Sally coughs and falls to her knees, and I immediately go to her. I give her my hand, and pull her back up off the ground. She gives me a long hug, except it is not quite as friendly as before. It contains more effort on Sally's part. It lasts longer than it did the night we found the television in Hopeville, too. Strange? I don't know.

I see Skorpio, while Sally has her back to him with her arms wrapped around me. He's giving me an almost-hostile look. I look at Sally, then look back at him. He can't take his eyes off Sally.



It's during this moment in which I realize that things will never be the same between Skorpio and I.




"Why does it feel the same
To fall in love or break it off
And if young love is just a game
Then I must have missed the kick off"

-Blink 182 (Going Away To College '99)

WOW, battle, jealousy, destruction... what more can I ask for? So, what Skorpio and Sally fall in love at first sight? hehehehe

You really know how to play with your reader's emotions! First I'm glad NCR is there, then I hate them! Well done! Great writing, excellent story! I eagerly await the next chapter, Gingy!

Thank you..

About Skorpio and Sally, it's a bit more complicated than that. Even though they're in the middle of a war, jealousy over Sally is might put a bigger dent into their friendship. Exactly how that is going to unfold will be revealed during Chapter 8 and possibly Chapter 9.

As for the next chapter, honestly, I've had no inspiration for the last few days, so as soon as I'm enthusiastic about writing it, the chapter will come out.

As it is, I've crumpled about three packets of paper that have contained different versions of Chapter 8. It's probably the biggest moment in the Courier's entire backstory, so I don't want it to fall short of how people expect it. It's going to be very, very, long. A lot is going to have to fit into that chapter.

It's going to be good, though. I've been doing a lot of trial-and-error with it.