Chapter 1.9 – No Man Is An Island

August 19th, 2279

After pulling his head wrap and goggles down, Zack turned his head to the side coughing and spitting out the remnants of dirt still present in his mouth. He was more pissed about the fast coming dust storm than the joy of finding shelter when he did so. Zack sat up cursing as he did, and put his back to what would have been the roof of the trailer. His eyes took some time to adjust to the darkness. The trailer smelled stale and dusty. He looked over at the upper door that he had unlatched to get in. It seemed heavy enough that the storm would not be able to lift it. The thought of some random person coming by and locking him in passed through his mind. He shook this thought off however, it was too unlikely anyone had seen him enter the trailer, or even if they dared to navigate through the dust storm.

Zack stood up, made his way towards the other end of the trailer furthest from the door. He took off his pack as he walked and held it at his side. The trailer seemed void of anything except an empty metal box in front of him. Either the truck had been traveling empty, or had been looted at some point. He reached down and pulled the metal box along with him with his free hand and let go of it when he was near the end. He opened his duster and undid the strap to his steel pauldron. He took his duster off along with the pauldron, shook it of dust, folded it up and placed it on the floor. Zack stripped the rest of his clothes and gear down to his thread bare boxer shorts. He followed the same routine with all his clothes, trying to shake all the dust from them and the folded them up neatly stacked atop his duster. He took the spare shirt out of his pack. It was a light brown in color. He soaked it with a little water from his canteen, and wiped off his body, face, and neck to get rid of the dust and dirt covering it. The cuts to his fingers were of little concern. The blood had already dried on them. He did his best to clean them with the soaked shirt.

Zack pulled out his spare set of socks. The ones he had been wearing were in bad condition. He redressed just in his pants, the navy blue shirt, and the fresh socks. He rolled his bed roll down in front of the metal box and sat cross legged in front of it. He took out some chewing gum from his pouch and popped it into his mouth. Zack stared into the darkness chewing the semi sweet gum wondering how long dust storms usually last in this area. In his town of Polvo, they could be as short as an hour, or up to four days. He hoped it would not be the latter. He would not have enough water to wait here that long and then make his way to Cherry Cliff.

Zack reached over to his pack and took out his metal plate, his battered lighter, and one bottle of wonder glue. He placed the plate upside down on the metal box, squeezed a decent amount of wonder glue on it in the center. Zack looked down at the mass in front of him. Even in the darkness, it looked like some elegant desert a waiter would have brought some rich business man at a fancy restaurant that he had to put in a reservation a year in advance. He lit the glue with his lighter. It burned an intense red color which illuminated the trailer quite well. It was an old trick he learned from his friend, Alex, when he had first joined the militia and was posted on third shift guard duty. There was some ingredient in the glue that allowed it to burn bright and slow just like the oil in some lamps. It was done to light fires quickly or to signal others. If he used it sparingly, he would have enough to last a few days with the other bottle in his pack. With the thought of Alex in his mind, he tried to figure out what day it was. He kept no calendar with him, but he remembered the day he left. He worked some math in his head, it was the nineteenth. It was Alex’s birthday today.

“Happy birthday man, whatever you’re doing at this moment. Hope it’s more fun than where I am.”

Alex had just turned twenty eight, a little more than two years older than Zack. He had left a gift with his Alex’s father before he left. He said he would make sure that Alex received it today. A large caravan had visited four days before he left. This was the same caravan that he got his map from as well. He was able to trade his assault rifle, which he kept in pristine condition, for a set of desert colored combat armor, which came with the same color fatigues and brown combat boots. The reason this gift was special though was because Alex had always talked about wanting it over the years, but never could find the correct size for him. It was great luck to find the correct size for Alex so close to him leaving towards New Vegas. Alex was almost the complete opposite of him appearance wise. Zack had tanned light skin, medium build, decent toned body, and was tall. Alex was dark skinned, large build, all muscle, and was only about five eight in height. He kept a neatly trimmed goatee and kept his head trimmed short. Alex was excellent with melee weapons, unarmed combat, and could utilize big guns quite well. Polvo had a flamer at its disposal which Alex had used on more than one occasion. Whatever he did, no matter what kind of job it was, he usually always did it with a smile on his face. He loved to joke, loved to drink, and loved to show off.

Zack remembered back to the day when he and his mother had arrived into Polvo on that Brahmin pulled wagon fourteen years ago. A friend of Zack’s father told them that it was a place he had been to a few times in his past, that someone there owed him a favor , and it seemed a safe place for them to hide out. Zack got off the wagon first, taking in the surroundings that would become his new home. The place was not large, but felt welcoming. It was then he noticed Alex, he was standing on the sidewalk by his parent’s store. Alex, after seeing this new person in town, with not many others of his age to spend time with, made his way over and introduced himself to Zack. They became excellent friends in no time, and have been so ever since.

Alex usually worked in his parent’s store each day. It had been a drug store in pre-war days, but now it served as trading post for the town. His mother ran the front counter of the place while his father worked in the back at his bench, repairing items for people, as well as making new ones to sell. Alex’s job was mainly just to help out where he could. He would keep the place clean, deliver goods to the people of the town, and help with moving inventory. The inventory was sometimes quite heavy, which is how Alex acquired most of his muscle from. Alex showed Zack his all around the area, the safe places, the dangerous ones, and the best places to hunt and scavenge. Alex had wanted to join the town’s militia ever since he was younger but had to wait till he was sixteen to do so. As time went by, Zack looked up to Alex as a role model, now that his father was gone, and decided to do the same and join the militia when he turned sixteen. Zack’s mother had been against it at first, but then realized that it was something he would excel at, and let him be.

Everyone had to be of use to live in Polvo, and working in the militia was demanding work. It involved a lot of training, patrolling, shooting, and long periods of sitting around waiting for combat. Zack did not have his father’s gun at this time. He was issued a hunting rifle from the armory. The gun was in average condition, but the sights were a bit bent, and took some time to get them adjusted to be able to fire accurately. Luckily Zack was able to join Alex’s squad on guard duty. They patrolled the border of the town during the late night and early morning. It was usually where they stuck the new guys, as most of the raider’s attacks occurred during the night. It turned out they both actually enjoyed it though, and requested that they stay on indefinitely. Alex was the one with more experience in the militia than Zack, but it was Zack who was promoted to Sergeant when he turned twenty. Alex did not mind though, he was more of a follower than a leader, and loved to lead point in an assault.

The memories of Alex brought a smile to Zack’s face as he sat there starting into the dancing flame of the wonder glue. The smile faded quickly though when a very large object hit the trailer sending vibrations all through it. Dust descended from above Zack, which finally rested on his legs. Zack reached over grabbed his holster and took out his revolver. He then went into his pack and pulled out his gun cleaning kit. He wanted to make sure that no dirt or dust got in the way of any of the parts, gears or firing mechanism. He could not tolerate weapons that did not perform at their best. He spent the next few hours cleaning the revolver. He broke it down into all of its base components, cleaned each piece and oiled all the parts that required it. Zack liked to clean weapons more than his father had. It was relaxing and acted almost as a form of meditation for him. There was just something about taking an object apart, cleaning it, resembling it, and seeing it the difference afterwards that you made upon it.

Satisfied with the now clean revolver, he grabbed his holster and made sure the inside of it was dirt free as well. He then placed the gun back in there and set it by his pack. He reached over and pulled his duster and set it on his lap. He reached to the inside pocket and pulled out a small thin box. It was a pack of playing cards. The writing on the box was faded, the corners were frayed, and the bottom had an ever expanding hole in it. He opened the top of the box and slid the cards out into the palm of his hand. Along with the cards fell out a coin made of silver.

The coin was about an inch and half in diameter and along its edge was reeded like one of the old pre-war quarters had been. On its front was a head of man looking to the left. Zack had no idea who this man had been, but he must have been of some importance in history to have his face placed on here. There was writing that Zack could not read, it was one of the old languages. On the reverse side there was an intricate design of a coat of arms along with a date, 1944. Zack’s father had told him had been from Europe and was most likely the last of its kind. It had been passed down in his family for a long time. The playing cards and coin were left in the footlocker with the rest of his father’s belongings. That same deck of cards had been the one that his father taught him how to play poker with. His father never would just let him win. Zack always had to earn it. It was one of the reasons Zack became the skilled player his is today. The coin served as his father’s card guard while he played and to the people who played against him, they swore it was a where all his great luck came from.

Zack placed the cards on the metal box, and moved the coin the back and forth through the fingers in his right hand remembering how his father had done so when he was young. When he first saw his father do this he was in awe of it, and thought it was somehow magic how fast he could do it. His father used to tease him when Zack tried to do it himself, but eventually his father taught him how to do it. He put the coin on the metal box, picked up the plate with the burning glue on it and placed it on the ground beside the box. He then picked up the playing cards, the backs were of a fading blue, on the front the whiteness of the cards had all but vanished on them, only remained was a brownish yellow. He absent mindedly shuffled the deck while listening to the storm rage outside. Zack had not idea how much time passed while he sat playing different variations of solitaire. He thought it would be best to get some rest, he extinguished the flame, and he placed his lighter and wonder glue bottle by the plate on the ground. He adjusted his bed roll, propped his feet on the metal box, and closed his eyes.

Zack awoke, taking sometime to remember where he was, and then wondered how long he had slept for. Groaning as he sat up, he reached around blindly for his lighter. He was able to find after some time and re lit the wonder glue remaining on the plate. His stomach ached with hunger. He realized he had forgotten to eat anything since he made his way into this trailer. He reached in his pack and grabbed his metal spoon and a can of pork n' beans. He opened the can with his combat knife, and ate its entirety cold. He then realized that he was quite parched. He reached for his canteen and drank about half its contents with a few gulps. He was angry at himself at this though, he knew he needed to conserve his water. It was then Zack realized that the storm that had been playing in the background for the past day was no longer present. He got up and walked over to the trailer doors. He opened the upper door slowly and gazed out. It seemed the storm had either moved on to some other area, or maybe its wrath had finally concluded. The moon could be seen from where Zack peered out. It appeared to be early morning of the next day.

”I’m glad that it didn’t last any longer. I would have gone stir crazy in here.”

Zack lowered the door, and went back to the front of trailer to redress and pack up his belongings. It took about fifteen minutes till he was content how the weight of everything sat upon him. He made his way back to the doors, lifting the upper one while taking care of the jagged metal on the lower one, and exited the trailer that had served as his fortress against the bombarding dust storm for the past day.

Chapter 2.1 – Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

August 20th, 2279

Zack walked around the outside of the semi trailer to see what damage had been done to it. Dirt and sand was heavily built along the south side of the trailer creating almost a ramp that one could walk up. He went around to the other side and saw what had impacted on the previous day. It was some kind of ladder attached to an orange smooth curved piece of long plastic. Zack had seen this object before. It was part of those places that the kids used to play at during the pre-war days. He could not remember the name of the object in front of him, just that it usually belonged on a play ground.

Zack tried to find the road that he was following before the dust storm hit. It was completely gone now, covered by who knows how many inches of dirt. He decided that it would just be best to continue on towards the mountains in front of him. The Estrella Mountains, as Rex had told him. Zack had no clue if this was a pre-war name for it, or one that some local had come up with and it just happen to stick. Either way, he started off.

After much walking, the sun was starting to show its lovely bright self just over the mountains he was heading towards. He pulled his goggles to his eyes, but kept his head wrap off at the moment so he would be able to hear without trouble. He took notice to how much cacti grew in this area, a lot more than the area around Polvo. Cactus was an excellent survivalist. They had the means to defend themselves with spines, needed very little water, and could live up to three hundred years. One had to be careful of some breeds of cacti though. Most were harmless, only having small spines that scratched you if you got too close, but others like the saguaro, after being radiated, were able to swing its arms at threats nearby. It was even rumored that when they were ready to breed they would pull themselves out of the ground, and walk great distances using its roots as feet to find a suitable mate.

Deciding it was time for a break, he found an old deadened juniper tree that offered some peaceful shade. He sat down with his back to the trunk of the tree and took some sips from his canteen. Some sweat ran down his check and traveled under his jaw. The movement caused his face to itch and he ran his hand on the side of his face. The beard growth there annoyed him and he opened his pack to retrieve his razor. He splashed some water on his face, and tried his best to shave without the aid of a mirror. After he finished he felt each side of his face and thought it was the best he could do under current circumstances. He pulled out his map and check where exactly Cherry Cliff was again, once he passed the smaller mountain range, he could start making his way northeast towards it. He took out and ate one ear of corn and the rest of the Jackal Rabbit meat. He returned his map and starting traveling once again. He wrapped his head up and kept his eyes to the sky for Rad Hawks, which most likely hunted during daylight.

The bulk of the day passed without incident and it was nearing the end of the afternoon, he had been walking for almost twelve hours. Zack was pushing himself for the miles that had been lost the last couple of days. His back was sore and with each step he took, his legs burned with pain as a reminder they were just about done for the day. Even with all the discomfort coursing through his body, he continued on. Just as the sun making its way towards the horizon behind him, he thought it best to find place to make camp. He undid his head wrap, and pulled his goggles to his forehead. Up ahead he saw what looked like some kind of crude shack made of sheet metal and wood. It looked like it would be effective shelter for the evening, and he made his way towards it. He took out his father’s coin from the inside of his duster and moved it across his fingers as he had done yesterday.

As he closed the distance to the metal shack light was starting to fade from the sky. For a moment Zack thought he saw smoke appear on the other side of the shack.

“Damn, someone must have had the same idea I had. Maybe they’re willing to share the space if I share some food.”

Zack was just beginning to pass the backside of the shack, when a man stepped out from the other side of the building holding a ripper in his right hand and wore a menacing smile. He was dressed in leather armor, wore a blue bandanna on his head, and had on black boots with no laces. The man’s nose looked like it had broken in the past and never healed right. His grey eyes were squinting in the fading light, and they looked like he was ready to kill. Zack had been running the silver coin in his right hand which prevented him from instinctively drawing his revolver from behind his duster. He still could try and pull it, but this man in front of him was close enough that any movement might make him pounce. Even if he could get a shot off, that ripper would make lunch meat of him. Zack was in trouble. Thoughts raced through his mind of what he could possibly do to come out unscathed.

“Well alright! I thought I heard some [censored] trying to sneak up on here. Looks like you’re dumb enough too, waltzing around out here without a weapon.” The man said laughing afterwards.

“Good, he doesn’t see my holster.”

“I wasn’t really sneaking, I thought there would be someone here to share camp with. I was mistaken. I’ll gladly look elsewhere and leave you be.”

The man shook his head a few times his yellowing teeth forming a wicked grin. “I was just thinking too, I wish some dumb [censored] would come by here with a bunch of trade goods or something that I would be able to just gut them and take the best pickings. And look, the wasteland provides.” He revved the ripper a few times. It seemed like he was trying to intimidate Zack, as if he was a little afraid of him. This coupled with the fact that he smelled of booze gave Zack an idea.

“It just might work.”

The man started to step towards Zack. “Are you by chance a gambling man?” Zack asked quickly. He starting to run the coin through his fingers again, making sure the man could see.

“Well [censored]!” The man stopped moving forward as if the question intrigued him. He was about four feet from Zack. “Pretty much everyone has to be a gambler of some kind to be crazy enough to wander around the wastes. So I’d say yes I am. What of it?”

“You would really like to have all my supplies and gear right? And I would really like to live to see another day. I have this coin here.” Zack lifted his hand and showed the man each side. “I’m going to flip this coin in the air and let it land on the ground. If it comes up heads, well you can cut off mine, and get all my gear. But if it lands on the shield which is tails, I’ll drop all my gear here and leave with my tail still intact. Either way you win. So what do you say? Care to take that bet?” Zack tried to keep his face from showing any deceit.

“Holy [censored] man! What kind of stuff are you shooting up? You are a crazy [censored] to come up with this kinda thing, but I like it. You’ve got a deal man. Seems like either way you’re still screwed though, you won’t last one day out here without any gear or supplies. So flip that [censored] and let’s get done with it!”

Zack smiled inwardly and nodded his head. He moved the coin a few more times back and forth through his fingers, making sure that the man’s grey eyes followed it. He placed it on his thumb and index finger, and flipped it into the air a good three feet above their heads. The man’s head rose following the coin upwards as Zack stared straight at him. Zack quickly withdrew his revolver from inside his duster and fired it twice into the man’s chest. The shots broke the silence in the coming night like two huge towers made of glass had just collapsed on themselves. The man’s body began to fall backwards, his eyes were wide with shock, and his mouth formed an o. The body hit the ground just as the coin landed in front of Zack’s feet. Zack looked down to it.

“Heads. Awesome.”

Zack bent down and picked up the silver coin with his left hand. As he did so he heard a distorted voice from inside the shack.

“I guess he got the worst part of the deal in that bet.”

Zack with revolver still in hand moved cautiously towards the other side of the metal shack. There was a small fire burning a ways from the shack. It looked like some kind of meat was cooking on sticks over hanging the flames. He aimed his gun in front of him ready to fire as he made turned the corner. Apparently the shack was only built with three walls, or the front had blown off at some point, perhaps in the last dust storm. When Zack saw where the voice had come from, he holstered his revolver and put his coin in his pocket. He looked down at the person in front of him.

Sitting against the back of the metal shack, bounded by rope on their hands and feet was a young woman, who looked to be a little younger than Zack. She sat with her knees up and her hands resting on top of them. She wore a light blue RobCo jumpsuit with the sleeves rolled up, there was some kind of metal bracelet on her right hand, and on her feet were black and white sneakers. Her skin was light olive in color, her hair was black, it was shoulder length, and she wore it down. She had a long jaw line which ran down to a semi pointed chin. Her cheek bones sat high which caused her eyes to sit a little wide and were small. Her eyes were green, and eye brows were thin. Her nose was small and was upturned a little showing her nostrils some, but did so in a cute way. She looked to be maybe five seven in height and her body was athletically built. The left side of her face was bruised badly from her jaw to her eye. It looked like it was the product of multiple hits. Her lips were cracking and there was also some dried blood at the corner of her mouth.

“Not to be a bother, but I don’t suppose you could take a moment from gawking at me to cut these?” She held up her hands in front of her towards Zack.

Zack jumped a little when she spoke. He did not know how much time had passed since he had been staring down at her. “Sorry, I can do that for you.”

Zack crouched down and pulled his combat knife from its sheath, cut her hands free first, then her feet. She rubbed at her wrists, and Zack could see the ropes had chaffed them badly. She must have been tied up for sometime.

“Thank you.” She said softly. “You killed that man didn’t you?”

Zack took off his canteen and handed it to her, as he nodded. “Please, drink some. And yes, it was either him or me. Who was he?”

The woman drank from the canteen, choking a little as she did so. “Just some punk [censored] slaver. I’m glad he didn’t get the best of you though. When he heard you coming he told me to keep my mouth shut, or else he'd beat the other side of my face in. I was tempted to give you warning, but I was afraid of more punishment.”

“Don’t worry about it, he wasn’t too bright. He should’ve known when someone is gambling with their life, they’re most likely to cheat to get out of the bet.”

The woman laughed a bit at this statement which brought a smile to Zack. She looked like she had gone through a lifetimes worth of pain, and needed a good laugh.

“My name’s Zack. I’m glad I came by when I did. I almost stopped for the night a little ways back. I would have never found you.”

“Yes, thank you again for doing what you did. My name’s Kade Harmon. Glad to meet you Zack. Do you have a last name?”

Zack shook his head. “At the moment, no, but I’m working on it.”

Kade stared at him with a quizzical look.

Zack chuckled. “It’s a long story. You hungry? That meat on the fire looks like it’s about to burn. Let’s say we have some before that happens alright?

Kade nodded happily. “Yes! Please, I’m starving.”

Zack walked took off his pack and unattached his bedroll and laid it down. “Here, sit on this. It’s more comfortable than the ground.” She thanked him and moved onto it, her body reacting slowly to her commands. She looked tired and in agony.

“Man that guy really did a number on her. He deserved what came to him.”

Zack walked over to the fire and collected the sticks from over the fire. It looked like mole rat meat. Not the best meat, but it would have to do. He walked back to the shack and sat down next to Kade. He gave her most of the mole rat meat and one of ears of corn from his pack. She thanked him and began eating. He started to pick the meat on his stick. It was hard to chew, but sat well in his stomach. Zack sat there watching Kade eat happily as if she had not had any food for a few days.

Nice introduction of a vault-dweller. I wonder what place she'll have in this story.

Oops, I looked back and realized I forgot a word. It did seem like she was a vault dweller. The bracelet is just a trinket. I forgot to put Robco in there before jumpsuit. Sorry guys, I changed it now. Hope that didn't ruin anything for the story. :nope:

Chapter 2.2 – Spoon Jacker

August 20th, 2279

Zack was done with his food, and sat patiently watching the stars appear in the sky above while Kade finished hers. She tossed the sticks aside when she finished and stretched her arms above her head taking in a deep breath as she did. Zack turned to her picking up his canteen and holding it out offering her more water. Kade shook her head.

“The food was good, but I’m afraid if I drink any more water it might cause me to throw it all back up. That jerk was real stingy with the water, and he hadn’t given me any food since before that dust storm came through.”

Zack nodded and opened up the canteen and drank from it. He set it down and looked over the bruises on the side of her face.

“I’d like to help you out with those injuries if you don’t mind, they look like they hurt a lot.”

Kade brought her hand to the left side of her face and rubbed it softly. “Are you a doctor of some kind?” She asked him.

“Not really, no. If anything I would be called a doctor’s assistant. I’m a pretty decent medic though. You don’t need surgery or anything, just some relief.”

“Well okay, what should I do?”

“Just lay down and I’ll fix you up.”

Kade lay down on his bed roll with her head closest to Zack. He reached for his pack and took out his medical supplies. He pulled out one of the syringes of med-x and one stimpak and placed them on his lap. Zack turned his body towards hers still sitting.

“Now, I’m going to administer this med-x first to help with the pain. The needle will feel like a small insect is biting you. I will have to use the stimpak as well on different areas. There will be some discomfort. Your muscles on that side will feel as they are burning, but its part of the healing process. Understand?”

With her soft green eyes she looked up at Zack and nodded.

Zack took the med-x in his hand and was about to inject it, but then pulled his hand away.

“You could talk while I do this, it might help with some of the pain.”

“What should I talk about?” She asked.

“Whatever comes to mind?” He thought for a moment. “Don’t slavers usually have those metal collar things that they place around the neck? How come you didn’t have one?”

Kade smiled. “Well, to start off I live in this settlement just south of the outskirts of the Phoenix ruins, called Dedge. There was a small mountain between Dedge and Phoenix which prevented the bombs from affecting it or covering it with radiation. From what the others told me at one point in time it was a quarry of some kind. One of those places where they take big stones from the side of mountains and ground and use it to build things. After it had been emptied, some company bought it and it was turned into a junkyard, where they put old vehicles that were outdated or didn’t run anymore. The place provided excellent protection from all sides. It had the mountain to the north, and walls of cars and a barbed wire fence surrounding the rest. The only is one entrance to the place which lies to the south. In the area surrounding the entrance we keep a minefield that I help to maintain. Only the inhabitants know the clues to where the mines are. There is also an old giant old bulldozer that the founders got working and used to block the entrance when needed with its blade. It weighs so much that little is able to move it. It keeps animals and enemies out quite well.”

Zack started to inject the med-x in different parts of her face. She seemed to not wince too much from it.

“Dedge huh? How did it get that name?” Zack asked while he continued to work.

“Well, originally since where it was located, in between the Phoenix ruins and the fringes of the desert wasteland it had been named Desert’s Edge some fifty years ago. Caravans started to add the settlement to their routes, but they decided that Desert’s Edge took too long to say in conversation, so they just condensed the two names and it was called Dedge from then on. Our major business is scavenging and repairing items. We send small teams to out to the ruins of Phoenix to look for anything of value, or items that can be fixed up and sold for a good profit, which we then trade to passing caravans.”

Zack finished using the med-x and threw the syringe to the ground at his side, it was useless now. He picked up the stimpak and was readying to use it.

“How did the caravans come to trade with the minefield in place, did they know where the mines were at?”

“We had the caravans meet us at a place nearby on the outskirts of the minefield. We did have warnings about the mines posted though, so innocent people wouldn’t get injured.”

Zack started to inject her with the stimpak along her face. He could tell that its healing properties were working instantly by the look of distress on her face. “Was Dedge attacked by slavers recently? Is that how you came to be here?”

It looked like Kade was trying her best to keep her face still. “No, I was part of a scavenging team. There was this new place that was recently discovered near Phoenix. It was a pre-war landfill. Back then, many people took everyday commodities for granted, and tossed out a lot of stuff which if done today would be ignorant to do so. We were sent there to get an initial survey of the landfill to see if it was worth our time to try and scavenge from. I left with two other people. There was Jim, our protection, he was an alright marksman. Then there was Rhonda, who was our navigator. I was the one in charge of inspecting the landfill to see if the place could be made profitable. We never made it to the land fill however.” Kade clenched her jaw as Zack used the stimpak across the lower part of her face.

“Sorry, I’m almost done. Please continue.”

“We were heading down a small hill, about three miles from where the landfill was supposed to be when we saw them. There were four of them, three men, and one woman. We could tell they were slavers right off with the metal collars hanging on two of their belts. It almost seemed like they were waiting for us. It was right then they opened fire. We tried our best to find cover there were only scattered boulders to hide behind. Rhonda took a hit to her abdomen immediately before she could make it to safety. It looked like it was caused by laser fire. She laid face up screaming and clutching her stomach. Jim took position lying down behind a medium sized boulder and started to take shots with his assault rifle. I wasn’t used to combat and did my best to hide crouched behind a rock as the firing continued from all around. I glanced around the edge carefully a few times and saw that Jim had scored a kill to one of the male slavers. I could hear one of them yelling to take the shooter out. One slaver was able to flank Jim while one shot a suppressing fire at the boulder he was behind. The female slaver rushed up to him from his left, and in a rage kicked Jim square in the face just as he turned to try and line up a shot to her. She shot him twice in the chest with the combat shotgun she was carrying.”

Zack finished using the stimpak on her face, and held it in his hand at his side. Kade looked up to him, her eyes shaking slightly.

“Are you all done Zack?”

“Yes I am. The bruises should start to fade within the next few hours. The stimpak’s medicine should help some with your wrists as well. The pain will fluctuate during this time, just to let you know.”

“Thanks so much.” Kade sat up rubbing the left side of her face. “It feels better already.” She closed her eyes for a minute before reopening them.

“What happened after Jim was killed.”

“I knew that they would be coming after me next, so I pulled one of the sticks of dynamite from my bag, I had them in case I needed to remove any obstacles. Two of the slavers made their way past Jim’s body to where Rhonda lay. I could see her legs moving slightly. I’ve known her for some time and knew she would take death over being a slave for the remainder of her life. Also, I didn’t know if her wound was life threatening or not, but I decided to do it anyways. I lit the fuse to the dynamite, and tossed it at the two slavers by Rhonda. The female one looked down as it landed near her feet. She barely got the words “Oh [censored]” out of her mouth before the explosion snuffed all three of them from this world. The last slaver came up behind me as the explosion occurred and hit me from behind, knocking me out. When I came to I was leaning against a boulder with my hands and feet bound. That man standing over me was the one you killed outside. I killed the two that had all the slave collars though, so his only option was rope.”

Zack looked solemnly at her. “Throwing that dynamite seemed like the best course of action at the time. At least you were able to take two of them out. I’m sure Rhonda would understand what you had to do.” Zack saw a few tears run down the sides of her cheeks.

“If I hadn’t been so terrified from the beginning I would have started throwing dynamite right away. The others might still be alive.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself. You could have easily been shot in the process of throwing them and died out there or have a slave collar around your neck and who knows where you’d be now.”

“I guess that’s true. He hit me a few times there when I was leaning against that boulder. He was really pissed about the rest of his group getting killed. He dragged me up by the rope on my wrists and started pushing me from behind to start walking. One of the other slavers had picked up Jim’s gun, so all were mangled beyond use in the explosion from the dynamite. So all he had was that ripper thing.”

“How long have you been his prisoner? Do you know where he was taking you?”

“It’s been a little over three days since we started out. When that dust storm came through, luckily we came across this old radio tower that had a small maintenance building that we stayed in. For the whole time he did nothing but talk about himself. He would go for long hours about what a great slaver he was and of the dozens of people he had sold. He never gave me a real name. He said the others only called him Spoon Jacker. He said it was from when he first started out and a person from a group they captured wouldn’t stay quiet, just spat out curses and demanding to be let go. He had warned the man to shut up. The yelling continued while the slavers were eating dinner. He got pissed off, got up, grabbed one of his comrade’s spoons while it was in use, and with it he went to that person and jabbed the spoon through one of the man’s eyes. He said that the man didn’t speak after that. That was when he walked back to dinner. His buddies were laughing up a storm, and coined his new name of Spoon Jacker. I think he said we were heading towards a place called Cherry Cliff. He told me he would be able to get a lot of caps for me there.”

“Damn. The more I hear about this man, the more I wish he didn’t die so fast, he deserved to suffer more.” Zack turned his body and leaned his back against the metal shack. He stared down a stone in front of him. “He didn’t, um, try and, force himself on you in any way, did he?”

“No!” Kade responded quickly with her voice raised. “He never did anything like that. The worst was when he would get drunk and pummel me a little. I was always fearful when he was like that. Sometimes he would pick up that ripper of his, brought it close to my face and pretended like he was going to cut me with it.” She clenched her fists when she spoke, causing her knuckles to whiten.

“Sorry Kade, it felt necessary to ask.”

“No, I’m sorry for getting upset. I just-. I really hated that man.” She brought the back of her hand to her mouth and yawned.

“It’s probably best that you get some rest. Take the bed roll. I’ll use the ground. Cherry Cliff isn’t too far away. My guess, another day and a half, we can head there together if you’d like. I’m in need of more supplies. Or if you prefer, we can part ways tomorrow and you could head back to Dedge.”

“I have no idea where I am, or even how to get back to Dedge from here. I’d like to come with you to Cherry Cliff if that’s alright.”

Zack nodded. “Yeah, we can leave in the morning. I’m going to go check around the area a bit before I turn in.”

“Alright, thanks again for all your help Zack.” Kade lay down with her back facing the opening of the shack. She curled up with her arms held tightly to her chest.

Zack stood up and walked to where the fire had died out while he had attended to Kade. He took out his revolver and unlatched the cylinder and took out the two spent rounds. He replaced them with new ones, and returned the gun to its holster. He walked around the outside of the shack in a wide circle, checking for any signs of wildlife. Satisfied with the safety of the area, he made his way back to the metal shack for sleep.

Chapter 2.3 – Know When To Fold Them

August 21st, 2279

The darkness from the night was starting to fade from the sky. Zack woke up. He sat up and twisted his neck to the side hearing a few pops. He looked over to where Kade lay. She was still sleeping on the bedroll lying face up. Some of her dark hair was covering part of her face. She looked peaceful and he thought it best to let her sleep for a little longer. Zack reached back and rubbed the back of neck.

“Man, I had forgotten how bad it is to sleep on the ground.”

Zack made his way out from the open three sided shack wiping the dirt from his clothes as he walked. A light breeze flowed through the air. He stood there looking out at his surroundings in front of him and then he smelled the beginnings of decomposition coming from the dead slaver. Zack turned and walked towards the body. He crouched down by its side, while trying his best to breathe through his mouth to avoid the smell. There were many flies crawling on different parts of his exposed skin. Spoon Jacker lay there face up, his eyes were still wide open. Zack could see a few of the flies crawling near the edges of them, most likely trying to find the last bits of moisture before the desert dried him up completely.

Zack reached down to the ripper that was that was death clutched in his hand. Luckily, it was not gripped on the trigger, or that would have left a bad mess. It took a bit of force to pry it from his lifeless fingers, but eventually he was successful. He placed the ripper on the ground by his feet. He then went through his pockets, but came up empty of anything of use. There was however a pouch on his left side that Zack did not notice yesterday. He untied it from the belt, opened it, and peered inside. It was full of caps. It looked to be about a three hundred or so. Zack placed the bag on the ground by the ripper. He stared at the man, thinking he should bury the body.

“Even though he was a complete soulless [censored], he deserves a proper burial.”

Zack heard a skittering sound coming from his right. Something was coming. He quickly turned his head to see a Rad Scorpion making its way towards him. Its empty black eyes reflected off the rising sun, its claws opened and closed rhythmically while its tail with its poisonous stinger atop swayed back and forth as it moved. Zack fell backwards from the crouched position he was in, and quickly kicked his legs along the ground to create distance between the creature and him. He lowered his arm to grab his revolver. His back made contact from the side of the shack. He was out of room to maneuver. The Rad Scorpion stopped just as Zack freed his weapon from its holster and aimed it outwards. Zack paused watching the beast. Almost as if it knew what he was holding, it reversed itself, clamped on with its claws to the legs of the deceased Spoon Jacker, and pulled his body off into the wastes to wherever its lair might be.

Zack let out a sigh of relief and put away his weapon. He watched the animal pull the body into the distance, there were small dust plumes rising as it went.

“I really need to be more on the offensive.”

Zack stood up, and walked back to where the items were at on the ground. He brushed the backside of his clothes as he walked. He reached down and picked up the ripper and pouch and made his way back to the cover of the shack. Zack sat down by his pack and opened it up. He placed the ripper and caps in there and he looked grimly at his food supplies. All he had left in there was one can of pork n’ beans, and a little bit of Brahmin jerky. They would have to use it sparingly. Zack took out his map and unfolded it in his lap. He looked around the area south of Phoenix to see if Dedge was anywhere there. He found it drawn there with a small red skull near the entrance, most likely warning for the mines. Kade stirred on the bed roll, opened her eyes, and sat up scratching her head.

“Morning, how is your head feeling?”

“My face is a little sore and I have a headache, but other than that I feel okay.”

“I have some mentats if you want some relief for your head.”

Kade shook her head. “I think I’ll be ok. Got anything for breakfast?”

“Sadly, no. I’m a little short on food at the moment. That’s why I was making my way to Cherry Cliff, to stock up.”

“Alright.” She said with a sad tone. She looked to the map in Zack’s lap. “What do you have there?” She moved closer and peered at it.

“It’s an old caravan map, Dedge is on here. By looking at this you could figure out how to make your way back there. The trek to Cherry Cliff wouldn’t be necessary for you.”

Kade shook her head quickly. “By the looks of it, it would take me more than two days. I wouldn’t be able to make it without food or water. If I go to Cherry Cliff, I might be able to pay my way with an armed caravan. That way it would be safer.”

“True. Well, are you ready to head out? When we stop for a rest we can have some lunch.” Zack folded up his map and put it away.

“Yeah, let me just grab something first.”

Zack closed his pack and reattached his bedroll to it. He took the time to fill his canteen up also. He glanced over as he was doing so and saw Kade looking through a messenger style side bag. She stood up and placed it crossed over her shoulder on her left side. Zack got up and placed his pack on.

“What do you have in there?” Zack gestured towards the bag.

“Well I have some tools, the two remaining sticks of dynamite, a lighter, a small notepad, and my journal.”

“A journal?”

“Yes, I like to keep track of the events that happen in my life. You know, in case anyone cares to read it one day to see what life was like around here. I usually write in it two times a week. You think it’s silly to keep one?”

“No, it’s a good idea. I’m just surprised the slaver didn’t throw the bag away when he caught you.”

“Well, he didn’t have a bag of his own, so he used mine. He looked at the journal a few times, but I could tell he couldn’t read. I told him it was just a book I found while scavenging and he just left it in there. Maybe he thought he could sell it when he was going to sell me.” A look of disgust appeared on her face.

“It’s in the past now. You ready?” Zack raised his goggles to his eyes.

The temperature was not as hot as it had been the last few days as Zack and Kade traveled towards Cherry Cliff. Kade almost had to pace herself at a light jog to keep up with Zack’s longer stride. They walked in silence as to save energy since food was low. Zack was able to spot a road which was only about a mile from the base of the mountain to the east. The road looked like it ran straight north. Zack thought hopefully it would lead to Cherry Cliff’s entrance. After about five hours and their stomachs moaning at them, they finally stopped for a break. They rested in the shade behind an old billboard that advertised Nuka Cola. Some parts of the ad were peeling from the wood, and it was faded from the sun. It had a young blonde woman on it passing the soda out to soldiers as they were boarding a ship. On the bottom of the ad it read “Nuka Cola supports our troops, and you should too!” Zack made a small fire from the sticks of a nearby tree and warmed the can of beans by it. They each ate half of the can and drank some from the canteen. Then they continued onwards. Kade, now with more energy, decided to break the quiet atmosphere.

“So, last night when you said you didn’t have a last name. What was that about?”

Zack gave a short laugh. “Well, about fourteen years ago I lived with my family just outside of New Vegas. I don’t know exactly all the details, only word of mouth from one of his friends who helped my mother and I escape. My father was playing in the Wasteland Series of Poker tournament in New Vegas at the casino owned by his employer Daniel Tull. The game was hold’em. The tournament has been going on since 2255, but this was the first that my father was able to play in. Usually Mr. Tull wouldn’t allow him to play, because he knew that if he were to win, with the prize money he could take my mother and I someplace better. Just by chance, and a few bribes, he was able to convince some of his co workers to be in charge of security during the tournament. Mr. Tull was furious. While the tournament continued, he threatened my father that if he won in any of top three positions, that he’d have my mother and me killed. He was told to make it look good though, so the others wouldn’t know he was throwing the game. This was while he was already at the final table however. There were eight others still in it and all of them respected his skill. So he had to work quickly to get knocked out of the tournament.” Zack paused and took a few deep breaths.

From behind Zack, Kade spoke. “Whoa, that’s a lot of pressure to put on someone. Since you had to escape with your mother, I take it things didn’t turn out too well.”

Zack was starting at the ground as he walked and shook it head slightly. “No, they didn’t. He tried to win the small pots and lose to the bigger ones. Two people were knocked out before he decided the time was right. He was in a hand with a pair of aces. He raised and everyone folded except the chip leader, who my father probably thought held two kings. The first three community cards came out, it was a king, a three, and an ace, all different suits. My father checked, the other guy bet big, and my father called. The turn card was a seven. It seemed to not help either of them, but my father bet half his chips and was called. The river card came up, it was another three. My father had the winning hand. He bet half of his remaining chips, he didn’t have many left. Since it was a small bet it looked like he was trying to steal the pot. The other man reraised which would have put my father all in. My father stared at the other man for quite sometime, pretending like he was thinking hard. He threw in his hand folding. The other man was curious, of why my father would bet so much only to fold. Against poker etiquette he picked up my father's hand and turned it over. My father spoke in protest, but it was too late. Everyone at the table, as well as those in the crowds watching, saw that my father had folded the winning hand. The man he folded to was angry, and began asking questions.”

“What the [censored] is going on here? Is this game rigged somehow, why would he do this? He had the best hand and he folds. This man is a disgrace to poker!”

“Mr. Tull had no choice but to come over to the table. He announced that my father was kicked and banned from the tournament, and that our family name was [censored] and couldn’t be spoken in New Vegas anymore. He leaned over, whispered something to my father. During all confusion my father was able to leave the casino. He found his friend who owned an old tuck, and made his way quickly to where we lived. I was sleeping when they got there. He threw all of his things in his footlocker, woke me up, and told me to gather anything I wanted to keep. He explained everything quickly to my mother. He gave her a kiss and me a big hug. He told me to take care of my mother and that he loved me very much. I was still half asleep and had no idea what was going on. He then put my mother and I in the back of the truck with our things, had us lay down and covered us with a blanket. I heard some other vehicles approach the front of our home. He told his friend to get us somewhere safe, and to never use our last name again. After driving for a bit I heard several gunshots. I peered outside the blanket and saw flames and smoke where our house had once been. My father’s friend got us safe passage to the place where I have lived since then, the town of Polvo.”

Zack waited to see what Kade would have to say. She was silent.

“I told you it was a long story.” Zack said softly.

“I’m so sorry Zack.” She said at last. “I had no idea it was a depressing one. I figured it would be a funny story, such as making a bet with a friend, and the loser loses their last name or something. I feel so bad for making you relive all that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I haven’t told anyone except my friend Alex. We told everyone we didn’t have a last name when we relocated.”

Zack looked to the sky and noticed that many dark clouds were moving quickly overhead. They were starting to form together. The sky seemed to have a yellowish tint to it and a strong wind came rushing from behind.

“Kade? What’s going on with the sky?”

He heard her footsteps cease, but she did not respond. Zack stopped and looked back to her. She was staring up at the sky, her face was in shock, and she seemed to be trembling a little.

“Kade, you alright?” Zack walked over to her, she continued to stare up. Zack placed his hands on her shoulders and shook her a little. “Kade, what’s wrong?”

She shook her head a couple of times and finally spoke. “Sorry. We need to get closer to that mountain and find some kind of cover, and fast!”

Please feel free to add any ideas on anything that I should change in my writing style, or if you like where the story is heading. Thank you.

Chapter 2.4 – We’re All Mad Here

August 21st, 2279

Zack pulled down his goggles and stood staring at her confused.

Kade grabbed his right arm and turned him. “Come on, we need to hurry, I’ll explain on the way.” Kade started to jog towards the mountain.

Zack decided to take her word that something was up and sprinted to catch up with her. He ran along her left side. “Okay, can you fill me in now?”

The wind came howling at them from what seemed like every direction. Kade had to yell over the wind so Zack could hear. “When the dust storms go through areas with mountains, all the friction from the wind and dust added with the metal in the mountains causes a lot of static electricity to accumulate in the air. Even though it’s rare, if the circumstances are right, it will cause a huge lightning storm. With the lack of precipitation in the clouds, many lightning bolts will strike anything that it can. We will have to find someplace with grounded overhead protection.”

“A little lightning can’t be too bad.”

Zack heard a crack to his left. Not too far away a large tree was struck by a purplish bolt from the sky. It sheered the tree in two causing both halves to catch fire. The thunder that followed the strike was deafening. Zack felt the wave and it seemed to cause his bones to vibrate. He immediately became worried, looking all around ahead of him for some kind of protection. All around them he could hear the strikes crash down to the ground. One that hit not to far in front of them gave off an intense amount of heat. Zack could feel the hairs of his body stand up on end. Both Zack and Kade covered their ears from the explosion of thunder that followed. They continued to run and were nearing the base of the mountain. Zack stepped into something that shattered beneath his feet. He looked back as he ran by, and was confused.

“Is that lightning cooking the ground into glass?”

They both stopped when they reached the mountain. Kade looked around frantically.

“Dammit, there is nothing here that will work!” She said with anger.

Zack looked up along the side of the mountain and thought he saw some kind of opening. He pointed up to it. “Look, up there, it might be some kind of cave.”

They both made their way up the side, it was steep and it took a lot of effort. Zack had to grab on to Kade several times to keep her from slipping down. When they neared the entrance to the opening, Zack raised his hand for her to pause. He pulled his revolver out, crouched down to get through the small opening, and checked inside. Zack had to walk downwards as he went. The space inside opened up after a ways. The sides were smooth and looked like it could hold maybe four people. Zack did not see anything living in the small cave, so he returned his revolver and turned around.

“Come on in Kade, its safe.”

Kade came inside quickly, sat down by the rear of the cave, and was taking many short breaths. Zack looked to her with worry, took his pack off, and pulled out his metal plate, wonder glue, and lighter. He did the same as before in the trailer and lit up the small cave. He had Kade move a bit so he could place his bedroll on the ground so they could both sit upon it. She moved back on it and he sat down next to her. He grabbed his canteen and took a few sips. Zack offered it to Kade, but she shook her head silently. She was still trembling every so often.

“We’re safe in here, are you okay?” He looked to her face and could see that the bruises were almost completely gone. Even with the scared look on her face, Zack thought she looked adorable with the way her hair fell slightly on her face.

After a moment she cleared her throat and turned to Zack. “Yes, I’m alright now. Sorry for freezing up back there. Lightning just holds bad memories for me. When I was younger, about four years old, a big dust storm came through Dedge. It was a powerful one, and it caused our lightning rod to get knocked over in the chaos. After the dust storm was over, all the people tried to get the rod back up as quickly as possible. But the lightning storm appeared faster. It showered down bolts all through the area. A couple hit some of the vehicles that were stacked up around the perimeter. Nine people were killed, my parents included.”

Zack understood now and felt sympathy for her. “I’m sorry that happened to you when you were so young. I was fortunate to have one parent still with me. It must have been hard on you growing up.”

She nodded slowly. “I was taken in by an older couple who were not able to conceive any children. They raised me as their own, and I came to love them. They both passed away in the last few years though.” Kade reached over to his lap and grabbed the canteen from it. “Sorry, I feel thirsty now.”

They both sat in silence for a few minutes, listening to the barrage of from the outside, the thunder shaking dust from the cave’s ceiling. Kade was the first to speak.

“So, while we wait this thing out, why are you heading to Cherry Cliff exactly? Are you heading back to your mother?”

“No, I’m not. Sorry, didn’t get to mention earlier where I was heading because of the storm forming. I left Polvo about six days ago, my mother passed recently from illness, and I’m on my way to New Vegas to avenge my father and to restore our family name.”

“Sorry about your mother, it must have been hard to see her suffer. New Vegas is far from here, do you have any kind of plan once you’re there?”

“Well, then Wasteland Series of Poker takes place once a year. It’s on October twentieth, two days before my birthday actually. I plan to enter the main tournament and do my best to win it to prove to everyone that my father could have. Afterwards, whether I take first place or not, I’m going to kill Daniel Tull, even if it’s the last thing I do.” Zack was unknowingly clenching his fists tightly as he spoke.

Kade stared at him with concern, and nodded slowly. “I understand that this is something you must do. I hope everything turns out well for you.”

“Thanks, I still have to get there though, and I have already come across quite a few obstacles. I still have almost two months before the tournament though, in case any other delays come up.”

“Nevada is a dangerous place as well, with the NCR and Caesar’s Legion fighting for control of New Vegas.”

Zack turned his head slowly to face her. “Fighting for control? Caesar’s Legion? When did all this happen? Aren’t the crime families in charge of New Vegas?”

Kade bit her lower lip lowered her right eyebrow. “You haven’t heard? Caesar’s Legion is this group of slavers that come from the east of Arizona somewhere. For the past thirty years they have been fighting with the NCR, been pushing hard along the northern part of Arizona. Last I heard Hoover Damn was in control by NCR, but I haven’t heard anything out of there lately. I just know that both groups are trying to take control of New Vegas, it’s one of the few remaining cities left in the country, and could easily become a capital for either side. I think the crime families are only in control of their casinos at this point.”

“Damn, I didn’t know things got this bad. It might be too late. Daniel Tull might not even be the same powerful man he was before. Almost half my life I have been waiting for the chance to go there and now it’s slipping away.”

“Look, most of the information I got was second hand from caravans and merchants. I’m not a hundred percent sure of its accuracy. Caesar’s Legion is a powerful entity, but they could have been pushed out by the NCR completely, they have the largest standing army.”

“True, but by my guess, the NCR wouldn’t tolerate the crime families, and would most likely get rid of them. I don’t have much choice though, I will still continue on.” Zack stared out the entrance to the small cave. He watched the purple and violet bolts dance in the sky.

Kade looked regretful about the past conversation. “Can you tell me about your town of Polvo? Is it a good place to live?”

Zack smiled. “Yes, I actually preferred it to my hometown of Blue Diamond. It always felt more positive and was a lot safer. Technically it’s not just my town though. There are two other small communities nearby. We all share a water source that resides in our center. Interstate eight runs through Polvo and to the northeast of us about three miles is a small housing community made up of about fifteen houses, called Askra. It was originally designed for rich older couples in retirement that could afford a quiet place to live near some woods. To the southeast of us about two miles was this old pre-war campground, called Fure. It’s made up of old log cabins that people could rent and spend vacation at. Both communities are off of Interstate eight by hidden roads. We all joined together to create a safe place to live. Each place has its own militia that coordinates with the others, Polvo being the largest community has a bigger part in decisions. We call the place Three Point District, or TPD. We call it that because our border looks like a triangle when drawn on a map.”

“That’s a lot more intricate than Dedge ever could be. What kind of buildings did Polvo have?”

“Polvo was a small little town. I think it was first founded thirty years ago. It only had a few small homes. Most of the residents, including my mother and me, lived in an old motel. It was only single story, but had about twenty five units. There was a drug store that served as the town’s trading post. It was run by my friend Alex’s parents. There was also a small diner which my mother worked at. It was where the food was rationed out. A two room office building was used as a school for the children. Lastly there was a gas station with a service garage attached to it. It was the strongest built building in town and faced west. We used it as our barracks for the militia. The front store was a lookout and guard bunker that we fortified with sandbags. The service garage was used as our armory and med clinic. I learned a great deal from our Doctor there. It was also where our CO Captain Fadden spent most of his time studying maps, and writing up orders. Our main source of food was from hunting, and our major trade good was the items that Alex’s father could repair.”

“It sounds like a great place. I would probably get bored though. I always love to explore and scavenge from places long forgotten.” Kade responded.

“Oh there is always something going on, new projects to help with, attacks by raiders, and the occasional dust storm. It keeps one on their toes though.”

“Yeah I bet.” She said laughing. “Did you like working for the militia? Ever think you would be good doing anything else?”

Zack thought a moment before answering. “I never really thought to do anything else. I mean, my father worked in security while my mother watched over me. I didn’t really have any other skills growing up besides shooting, gambling, and just trying to survive.”

“Yeah, you just kinda fall into what you’re used to.”

Zack looked out the entrance of the cave again. “How long do these storms usually last? I’m only familiar with dust storms.”

“It shouldn’t be more than six hours if I had to guess.”

“Alright, we should get some rest while we can, perhaps head out during the night when this thing finishes.” Zack gave a short laugh. “Crawling down here made me feel like Alice going down the rabbit hole.”

“Sorry what?” Kade turned to him.

“Ah nothing. It was this old book my mother used to read to me back in Blue Diamond. Alice in Wonderland was the title. I made her read it to me quite a few times. I loved the story. I would just close my eyes and pretend I was in Wonderland. Sleeping in a green forest, drinking from its clean rivers, talking to flowers, fighting the Queen of Heart’s army, and ponder ways that I could confuse that caterpillar.”

Kade looked at him as if he was mad. “Yeah, haven’t heard of that one. It sounds, um, lovely.”

Zack turned to her and smiled. “You’d like it if you read it. Even though the place was crazy, it’s better than the world we live in now." Zack picked up his pack and placed it behind him. He lay down resting his head on it. “Now, let’s get some sleep.”

This is a very neat and original story. You are also really good at describing stuff, not to complex, but enough to put a nice picture in someone's head, I could see a picture in my head of Rex's house, Spoon Jacker's corpse, the storm, and other stuff. Zach also has a well-written background. I'm looking forward to more.

Thanks for the post, I've seen it has lots of views, but not too sure how everyone likes it. I try not to get too descriptive, just enough. It was one of the things that ruined most of the Tolken books for me, he usually spent too much time describing things. Apologies to those who love his work, it's just my opinion.

Thanks to the idea by wasteland scholar_4, and his use of pictures in his story, I have a friend who started reading my story. He has never played any of the Fallouts before, but he is doing some concept art for it. I will have them up sometime in the near future.

Chapter 2.5 – Arrival

August 22nd, 2279

Zack woke up first. He stretched his legs outward and sat up. It was not a full night’s sleep, but was refreshing. He looked over at Kade and could see she tried to use her own small side bag as a head rest. It did not work as well as Zack’s since it was a lot smaller. She slept lying on her back breathing through her mouth, which was open slightly. Zack listened to each breath she took. He looked towards the entrance to the small cave. The lightning storm seemed to be gone. He could tell it was sometime in the night, but no clue was to what time. His stomach was stirring, but he knew he could not eat the last of his food yet. Zack turned his attention back to Kade, placed one of his hands on her shoulder and gently shook her.

“Hey, Kade. Time to get up.”

Kade groaned and turned on her right side. Zack smiled, got up, and exited the cave to relieve himself. As he was outside doing business he looked around. There were a few clouds floating around the edges of the sky and the moon lit up the land with serene beauty. Zack returned to the cave and saw that Kade was sitting up. She moved some hair from her face and rubbed one of her eyes with the back of her hand. She looked up to him and gave a closed lipped smile.

“We got breakfast today?”

Zack chuckled and shook his head. Before he could respond in any way, Kade spoke first.

“Yeah I figured, I was just teasing. What time is it?

“Don’t know the time. I would say early morning, sometime after midnight.” He reached to his pouch inside his duster. He pulled out his small package of gum. “I do have this though, if you’d like some.” Zack took a piece out and popped it in his mouth.

Kade held her hand out up at him. “Yes please, it’s better than nothing.”

Zack handed her a piece and grabbed his canteen and drank from it. He then passed it to Kade, which she took quickly.

“Thanks. I feel a bit bad about using half of your supplies. I don’t have anyway to repay you at all.”

“It’s alright. I figure if we double time it today we can reach Cherry Cliff before nightfall. Don’t’ worry about caps, our friend Spoon Jacker left us enough for us to share a big meal once we get there.”

“Really? You’re too generous Zack. Some people in the wastes might take advantage of that, need to be careful.”

“Oh yeah? You plan on stabbing me in the back and taking my gear?” Zack said with a grin.

“Oh shut up!” Kade pushed Zack backwards playfully as she stood up. “Not like I have anything to stab you with anyhow. Well, except maybe a screwdriver.”

“Well then, I’ll have to keep my guard up.” Zack laughed and crouched down to pack up his belongings and to roll up his bedroll. After he had it attached to his pack, he placed it on his shoulders.

Kade reached into her bag and withdrew a pair of black mechanic’s gloves. She held them in one hand, and slung her bag on her shoulder. She placed the gloves on each hand. She then reached down and adjusted the belt she wore over her jumpsuit. She squeezed her hands a few times as she looked down at the gloves. “I forgot that I had these in here. Alright, let’s get out of this place.” She said happily.

Zack and Kade made their way down the steep side of the mountain. They walked back to where the road was and continued to follow it north. Even with all the time that has passed since any maintenance was done to the road it still seemed to be in decent condition. They came across a few vehicles every so often, but found nothing of use in any of them. Along the side of the road they passed green signs showing distances to places, but the words were faded beyond recognition. When the sun finally rose from behind the mountain Zack wrapped his head up and placed his goggles over his eyes. He felt some sympathy that Kade did not have anything to cover herself with, but she seemed to not mind too much.

“Hey Zack, I was meaning to ask you something. I saw you take out that revolver yesterday during the storm. It looked a lot different from any revolver I’ve seen during my life exploring and scavenging the Phoenix ruins.”

“Yes, it is. When I was ten, my father was injured at the casino. He took a hard hit to his right wrist causing it to break. It never healed one hundred percent. There was this well known gunsmith in New Vegas who was able to modify this revolver for him. They ported it along the end of the barrel. Basically, they are exhaust vents, and allow the gasses expunged to vent upwards at an angle instead of going through the end of the barrel. It decreases recoil almost by half and improves the accuracy of the next shot. It does make the gun a lot louder though if you remember by the metal shack. They also added a counterweight along the bottom of the barrel to make it more balanced over all. It helped my father greatly with his damaged wrist. It took me a good half a box of rounds to get accustomed to it though. It’s a bit heavier than I’d like it to be, but I’ll eventually get used to it fully.”

“Yeah, I could tell it had been modified, it looks really unique.”

“Some of the people my father worked with nicknamed it Griever. When my father had to use it, someone would be grieving for the person he had used it on.”

After much walking, and protests from Kade, Zack agreed that it was time for a break. They came across another corpse of a vehicle and sat with their backs against the side of it. Zack took out the last of his Brahmin jerky and tried his best to divide up evenly and handed half to Kade. Zack pulled his head wrap aside. He chewed his slowly, trying to savor as much of it as he could. Kade looked down pathetically to hers. It fit in the palm of her hand.

“Well, beggars can’t be choosers.” She said and then started to eat.

After they finished eating, they each drank from the canteen. When Kade lowered the canteen from her mouth, she squinted, and looked off in the distance.

“Hey Zack, is it just me or is there some movement out there?” She pointed her finger out into the desert.

Zack looked to where she pointed and pulled his goggles to his forehead. He went in his pack and pulled out his binoculars. He peered through them. Zack could make out about twelve shapes of advlts as well as a few children. They were all wearing brownish tan robes with hoods covering their heads. The people walked with a pole in one of their hands. They also had three fully packed Brahmin in their midst. Zack lowered the binoculars and passed them over to Kade. She brought them up to her eyes.

At once she spoke. “What the, only one side of these things work.” She lowered them.

“Yeah, they got damaged awhile back. What do you make of those people?”

Kade returned the binoculars to her eyes. She sat a moment looking. “I’m not really sure, some kind of caravan?” She lowered the binoculars and looked towards Zack.

“I don’t think so. Caravans are usually armed. They look more like some nomadic people, probably just moving to a new place with more food and water.”

“Ah. Seems like a tough life though. Moving in a big group like that usually draws unwanted attention.”

“Yes, but as you noticed, it was hard to spot them with their desert camouflaged outfits. They also are traveling far away from roads. I’m sure that helps keep them unseen.”

A light breeze filled the air. Kade stood up and leaned against the side of the car. She unzipped the top of her jumpsuit down to her belt, exposing the white tank top shirt she wore underneath. “Well, good luck to them.”

As Zack packed up he could not help but notice small droplets of sweat accumulating on her upper chest. He also saw that the tank top she wore underneath the jumpsuit was a little short. He could see the smoothness of her stomach showing, as well as her navel. After he had placed his pack back on, they made their way onwards.

The sun was beating on them harshly as they walked. The breeze seemed to have vanished. After a few more hours, Zack took notice of the rock deposits in the mountain to their right. The coloring was starting to change to a bright reddish brown. He looked back to Kade, her head was drooped downwards, and she dragged her feet as she walked. He smiled under his head wrap.

“Chin up Kade, I think we’re almost there.” He pointed to the coloring of the rock deposits.

Kade brought her head up and looked to where Zack had pointed. She jogged to catch up to Zack. “Great! I was starting to worry we wouldn’t make it today.”

“Hold up.” Zack stopped walking, he held his arm out to his side to stop Kade, and stared down the road.

Ahead of them were two people, a male and female. They were not too far away from them. It was puzzling to Zack as why he did not see them before. The man was pushing a shopping cart which its contents were covered by some kind of blanket. The woman was holding a rifle that Zack had not seen in a long time, since his childhood in Blue Diamond. It was a Winchester-style lever action rifle. The stock and metal of the gun were dark in color. Zack knew that it fired .357 rounds. One hit from that would be deadly.

Zack pulled Kade by the arm off to the side of the road. As the couple approached, the woman held her rifle at the ready. They wore armor less attire. The man had blue jeans and plain short sleeved green shirt. The woman had on tan shorts with a white tank top. Zack held his hands outwards with his palms facing the woman, showing that he meant no harm. The woman glared at Zack and Kade as they walked by. Zack followed her eyes as she moved passed.

“Cherry Cliff not too far up the road?” Zack asked slowly.

The woman took some time to respond, perhaps thinking if she should charge for this information. “Yeah, it’s about three miles further.” She said without turning her head.

“Thank you.” Zack called to her. The woman said nothing and continued walking alongside the man pushing the shopping cart.

As the couple left earshot, Kade turned to Zack. “Such a pleasant couple.” She said with a hint of sarcasm.

“No matter. Come on, we’ll bet there in no time.”

After a bit more traveling, they came to a short sheet metal sign attached to a couple of wooden posts that had been buried into the ground. The words “Cherry Cliff” was painted sloppily in white and an arrow pointing towards the mountain. Behind the sign was a dirt road going in that direction, so Zack and Kade turned onto it from the one they had been following for most of the day.

As they neared the side of the mountain Zack could see that it was impossible to scale the side of it from how steep it was. There was an opening in between the mountain, almost like the mouth of a canyon. The entrance was blocked by a high chain link fence that was reinforced with wooden slats going through the links. Hanging high above the fence along a chain were four bodies. They were stripped of any useful belongings and were in a late stage of decomposition. Zack slowed his pace along the dirt road to take in what was in front of him.

On the right side of the entrance sat a sandbag weapons emplacement fortification. There was a light machine gun set up on a tripod with its barrel extending over the sandbags. There were two men behind the sandbags, one sitting in front of the machine gun, and the other leaning against the side of the mountain, a military assault rifle as slung over his shoulder by a strap. Above this, built against the side of the mountain, there was some makeshift lookout tower. A shoddy looking ladder led up to it, and it appeared only big enough for one person to sit in, which was occupied by a lone man holding a scoped sniper rifle.

On the left side sat a metal desk, which must have been dragged here from somewhere. Behind it sat an elderly woman. The woman’s silver hair was styled upwards. She was wearing some kind of pre-war flower dress, wore metal framed glasses, and had a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth. Next to the desk was another woman, but she looked barely a day over eighteen. She was holding a pathetic looking bolt action rifle.

All the others besides the elderly woman were wearing a similar kind of outfit. They had brown combat boots, desert colored pants, grayish armored sleeveless jacket that flowed down past their waist, a white undershirt, and atop their head was a rimmed brown hat. Each had a belt that looked to hold water canteens, a knife, and a couple of grenades. A bandoleer was worn crossed over their shoulder to their waist, to carry extra ammo Zack supposed. Zack could see a small orange and yellow emblem sewn onto the upper arms of their white undershirts, but could not discern what it was.

It was late afternoon, the sun was still visible, but making its way towards the horizon behind them. As Zack and Kade were about twenty five feet from the entrance, the man behind the light machine gun spoke as he placed his hands on his weapon.

“That’s far enough!”

Zack and Kade both halted. Kade turned her head slowly towards Zack.

“They’re New California Republic forces.” She whispered.

“State your business!” The man asked the two of them.

Truely absolutely brilliant. Your place names are attractive, your character's believable and your interactions well thought out. I especially liked the description of Dedge...

Thank you for that. The place where I work at gives me lots of time to think up good ideas, what conversations occur, and where the story is going next.

Just a heads up, the postings will be a little slow this week. I'm trying to get about three ahead. I will be on vacation for a week starting on the 24th, so before I leave I will post three segments at one time to keep readers entertained till I return. :woot:

Chapter 2.6 – Close Encounters Of The Bird Kind

August 22nd, 2279

“Let me do the talking.” Zack said towards Kade. He pulled his head wrap away from his mouth so he could be easier heard. Zack spoke in a raised voice. “We are travelers looking for a place to rest for the night and are in need of supplies.” Zack could see a small scar running horizontal across the man’s chin.

“Where are you traveling from and where are you headed?”

“I’m from a place south of here called Polvo. I’m on my way to New Vegas. My companion here is from a place south of the Phoenix ruins called Dedge. She is looking to find an armed caravan heading that direction to buy passage with.”

The man behind the light machine gun turned his head to the side to look back at the other leaning against the mountain side. “Sir?”

The leaning man nodded his head and spoke. “They’re fine.”

The man turned back towards Zack, took his hands off his weapon and sat back on a wooden stool and relaxed. “Proceed to the rec-“

“Sergeant DeLeon! Rad Hawk! One o’ clock, two miles out! It’s heading to our position!” The man shouted down from the watch tower while peering through the scope of his rifle.

The man that was leaning against the mountain pulled his rifle up and quickly moved from behind the sandbag fortification looking to where the other man had said.

Zack and Kade turned as well. Zack squinted and saw the form in the sky. Kade gave a small yelp. Zack was about to draw his revolver, but thought better not to, in case any of these soldiers had itchy trigger fingers and thought of him as a threat.

“Damn, even from a couple miles out that thing is big.”

He had never seen a Rad Hawk before in his life, but from way Rex had described them, and the one that was in front of him, he was worried.

The Sergeant turned and called up to the watch tower. “Alright, Pasley, keep a shot lined up on it and hold. He turned to Zack and Kade. “You two, get behind the sandbags. Jones, keep them back there.” He looked to the man behind the sandbags. Jones nodded.

Kade stood staring, her eyes fixed on the coming beast in the sky. Zack grabbed her arm and pulled her over to the protection of the sandbags. He crouched down and pulled Kade down as well.

Jones looked back to them. “Don’t interfere.” He said quickly. He turned back, readied his light machine gun and aimed it upwards.

Sergeant DeLeon turned to the women. “Margret, take cover under that desk and don’t come out till I give the all clear!” The elderly woman did as she was told, but did so slowly. “Okay, we’re gonna try something different this time. Calhoun, grab the cage and bring it over.”

The woman standing by the desk nodded, and slung her rifle over her shoulder. She made her way to a pile of what looked like garbage and took a wooden box from the jumble of debris. She held it with both her hands and jogged to where the Sergeant was. The Rad Hawk was almost upon them.

Sergeant DeLeon took the box from Calhoun and set it by his feet, angling it towards the oncoming threat. He pulled a knife from the inside of his boot and cut some rope at the end of the box. “Here’s the plan, I’m going to release Bugs and see if this beast wants a piece of him. If not, Pasley you take your shot. If that doesn’t send him off, we all fire at will and make our way back into the settlement. Got it?” There were several grunted responses.

DeLeon pulled up the end of the box and a quick blur shot out of it. He then picked up the box and threw it off to the side of the road. Zack could see what came out was a Jackal Rabbit, it wasn’t a fully grown yet, which allowed it incredible speed. The air was silent as all eyes followed the Jackal Rabbit off into the wastes leaving a dusty plume in its wake.

The Rad Hawk swooped down at an angle. Even with the distance between them, Zack could see the viciousness in the birds amber eyes, it wanted blood. It was unsure to Zack if it was going for Bugs or at the larger targets of Sergeant DeLeon and Calhoun standing close to each other. Time seemed to slow down as the Rad Hawk made its grand entrance. It leveled out when it neared the ground. Zack closed his eyes, cringed his face, waiting to hear the screams of someone being carried off or the sound of gunfire. He reached to his mother’s ring at his chest and gripped it in his hand. He heard Kade shout from his left.

“Oh no!” Kade gripped Zack’s left arm with both of hers and held on tightly.

Zack opened his eyes saw that the Rad Hawk had tried to attack the two standing on the road. He heard a gun shot from above, not knowing if it hit. On the ground over to his right he saw Calhoun gripping her left shoulder, scarlet blood was oozing through her fingers. The Rad Hawk went back up into the air and circled around. It flew past above them this time and Jones fired his light machine gun upwards at it, screaming curses. Sergeant DeLeon was crouched down by Calhoun, checking her wound. The Rad Hawk swooped down in the distance from them, when it came back up it had Bugs in its left talon. It flew back the direction it had come from.

“Alright, it’s leaving!” Kade shouted with excitement as she jumped to stand up.

Zack exhaled a breath that he had not known he was holding and stood up quickly. The ringing in his ears from the gunfire was still present. “Hey Jones, do you have a med kit of any kind? I can help her.”

Jones nodded and reached into a nearby footlocker surrounded by ammunition cans. He pulled out a small white container and tossed it to Zack.

Zack took off his pack and gloves quickly and jumped over the sandbags towards the downed Calhoun. He pulled down his goggles to his neck while he ran. He crouched down opposite of where DeLeon was. Zack took notice of the right side of DeLeon’s jaw and neck, there was a scar that ran down which looked like it was caused by a burn. Calhoun was clenching her teeth and breathing rapidly.

“Please move your hand so I can see the injury.”

She did, Zack then ripped apart the seam of her jacket some, and could see that it was not too bad. The bird had only torn through her left traqezius muscle. She would be off duty for a bit, sore as hell, but would live. Zack opened the med kit and tended to the wound, first cleaning it as best as he could. Calhoun closed her eyes and passed out. Zack checked her pulse to make sure she was still alive. Zack heard foot steps from behind him. He turned his head and saw Kade standing there. She was holding a brown rimmed hat with both hands in front of her by her waist.

“This fell off when she went down.” She spoke slowly and softly. “I went to retrieve it. Is she going to be okay?” Kade looked down at Calhoun’s wound and her face lost its color.

Zack smiled faintly, turned back and continued to work. “Yes, she’ll be okay Kade. Thanks for getting the hat. Can you give it to the Sergeant here please?”

She passed it over Zack’s head to DeLeon. He thanked her and held it upon his knee. Kade walked away slowly towards the desk where Margret had got out from under without Sergeant DeLeon’s order. Margret sat back in her chair, lit up a new cigarette, and Kade seemed to be making conversation with her. Sergeant DeLeon looked back down at Calhoun.

“I’m not too good with medicine. Is she really going to be okay, or were you just sparing that other woman?”

Zack finished injecting some med-x and began to sew wound closed. “No, Calhoun here will pull through fine. Don’t count on her doing much for some time though.”

Sergeant DeLeon nodded and stared down at her with concern. “Calhoun hasn’t been with us that long. This is her first real assignment. I’ve been with the Rangers for about eighteen months, mostly in California near the area around the L.A. Boneyards, but then got sent to this place.”

“What are you guys exactly?” Zack asked while he continued his work.

“We’re from the Nineteenth Ranger Regiment, Second Battalion, Echo Troop, First Platoon. Our Regiment was sent out to Arizona to find settlements with resources and establish trade routes with NCR headquarters. The places we locate might one day be part of NCR. We took jurisdiction of Cherry Cliff about two weeks ago.”

“What about the slavery that is present here? Aren’t there auctions or something?”

“Oh yeah that.” DeLeon said with a chuckle. He pointed his thumb behind him to the bodies that hung above the fence. “That’s what we did with the ring leaders, the rest we ran out of town without anything save the clothes on their backs.”

Zack smiled knowing Kade would be happy. “That’s good.”

A new Ranger appeared from behind the fence. He opened it slightly and sprinted behind the Sergeant. He was also carrying a military assault rifle.

“Excuse me sir, Lieutenant Green heard shots and asked me to investigate. Everything okay here? Is it safe for a shipment to go out, it’s just about finished loading up?” The Ranger stood waiting for response.

Sergeant DeLeon stood up and turned to the man. “Yes, it’s clear at the moment. Inform the Lieutenant we were attacked by a Rad Hawk, Calhoun was wounded and will need time to recuperate. Open the gate fully on your way back for the shipment to go out.”

The Ranger turned to do as ordered.

“Private, wait! Tell Rojas and Andrews they are on guard duty tonight for the front gate.”

“Wasn’t Rojas out here early this morning sir?”

Sergeant DeLeon glared at the man.

“Yes sir! Right away.” He turned and sprinted back up to the gate and swung it open fully.

Zack finished bandaging the wound on Calhoun’s shoulder and closed the med kit. He walked back to the sandbags and handed the med kit back to Jones. Jones passed him a bottle of vodka. Zack took it and poured some onto his fingers to rid the blood that was present on them.

“Thanks.” Zack passed the bottle back to Jones.

Jones looked down at the bottle and took a swig. “No problem dude, thank you for taking care of Calhoun. None of us are here is trained as field medic, Bailey and Young are off duty right now. Most likely getting wasted down at the saloon.”

“Glad I could be of help.”

Zack heard noise from the entrance where the fence had blocked before. He turned and saw two Brahmin pulling what looked like the back end of a red pickup truck. It only had two wheels on it, and was driverless. The two Brahmin were being lead by a man wearing simple garments, but had good condition boots. Around the outside of the makeshift wagon was an escort of five other Rangers. Each of them dressed the same as the ones present before and each branding a different firearm. One of them broke off from the group and with the help of DeLeon, moved Calhoun off to the side of the road so the wagon could pass. The Ranger fell back in line and the wagon passed where Zack stood. The contents of the shipment were hidden by a covering of some kind, but sticking out the back Zack thought he saw some kind of titian colored metal rods.

Kade motioned to Zack with a hand and started to walk towards him. He met her halfway by where DeLeon stood over Calhoun.

“Hey Zack, I put our names in with Margret at the record’s desk. Told her we’d be staying for less than a day. But we are allowed to go in now. That is, if it’s still alright with Mr. DeLeon?” She looked over to DeLeon with a smile.

He laughed a couple of times. “Yeah you two can go in, and that’s Sergeant DeLeon.” He said with a smirk. He turned towards the others. “Pasley, get down here and help me get Calhoun to the barracks. Jones you stay here till Rojas and Andrews arrive. They shouldn’t be more than ten minutes. Margret, time to pack up and take it inside.”

Zack went to retrieve his belongings from behind the sandbags. Pasley climbed down the ladder and he helped DeLeon take Calhoun through the opening. Zack met Kade in the middle of the road, the last light from the sky faded away, and they both made their way into the mouth of Cherry Cliff.

Im really looking forward to reading this tomorrow I will comment more on it then but for now it was a very nice intro and you have me coming back for more

Chapter 2.7 – Cherry Cliff

August 22nd, 2279

Zack and Kade had to walk for a ways downwards at a slant. The width between the sides of the small canyon was about nine feet in length. Every so often some boulders would protrude, but not enough to hinder movement from something as large as the wagon that had passed earlier. Zack watched as DeLeon and Pasley carry Calhoun a little ways ahead of them. Zack took off his canteen and drank some. He could feel the slight sting from the water as it passed his cracking lips. He handed the canteen to Kade. She drank from it as well and passed it back. She then reached down and zipped up her jumpsuit back to the top. Zack thought she probably did not want to give the wrong impression to the residents that she was offering something.

“Those hanging bodies we passed, the Ranger detachment ended the slave business that was taking place here.” Zack said after placing his canteen back over his shoulder.

“Oh, that’s what those were. I thought they were just criminals. You know like thieves or murderers.”

“I’m sure they were guilty of those crimes as well.” Zack said coldly.

“Yeah.” She responded back slowly. “I’m glad that they are against slavery. I’d much rather enter a place run by them instead of Caesar’s Legion.”

Stillness filled the small canyon as they walked on.

“That Rad Hawk was something huh?” Zack said to break the silence.

“Yes, that thing was terrifying. I did feel some sympathy for that Jackal Rabbit though. It didn’t deserve to be the decoy. I don’t know why they all didn’t just seek shelter inside when they spotted that thing.”

“If they hid every time someone or something came knocking, they would never go outside, and possibly die in here with no supply lines available.”

“I guess that makes sense. It sounds like a tough life though. I would never be able to do anything like that.”

“Ah don’t sell yourself short. You’d be amazed what you’re capable of under certain circumstances.”

“Well, I froze up when those slavers attacked my scavenging team and I.” Kade said softly.

Zack smacked himself mentally. “The first time one is in combat is usually the worst. Your nerves are twitchy, your feelings are all over the board, and you think back afterwards of mistakes that could have been done differently. If you make it through your first time, you’re doing ok. Sadly though, killing is one of those things that gets easier the more you do it.”

They finally came to where everything opened up. They paused to look at the surrounding area. It was already very dark in Cherry Cliff, but there were many metal barrels set up all through the area, burning who knows what. They lit the place up decently, their yellow flames flickering off the sides of the walls. The stars were just starting to appear above them. Cherry Cliff formed out to a V, spreading out wide on each side. Along the sides of where they stopped they saw a lot of trash and junk that had not been moved outside yet. The path continued onwards ahead of them. Up ahead along each side of the walls had wooden stairways leading up the second level. It was about twelve feet higher from the ground they stood on. They could not see what was up there, but saw the same burning barrels as well as some buildings. That same reddish rock was conveyed everywhere here, which gave true to Cherry Cliff’s name.

They both walked on the dirt path in front of them. It was the same width of the short canyon they walked through. They came across what looked like a small bazaar. There were blankets laid out, as well as standing booths. All sorts of things were being sold from weapons, armor and clothes, medical supplies, books, food, and an assortment of random junk. There were many people around this area looking at the goods available. Zack saw Calhoun’s form and the others disappear in midst of the crowd. Voices filled the air of those trying to negotiate prices, or arguments about an unfair deal. As they passed by one seller tried to get Zack to come over and buy some strange object in his arms, but he waved the man off. As far as Zack could tell, most of the weapons here were badly degraded and had little hope of surviving long. The armor looked cheaply made. If anyone actually decided to buy any, it would just be a false sense of security for them. Kade seemed not to find anything of interest either and they made their way on.

Kade tried to get the attention of a woman passing by. “Excuse me. Do you know where we can get-”

The woman pushed Kade to the side. “Outta my way [censored]!”

Zack looked over to Kade’s face, it was almost the same color as the scenery, and it looked like she was about to pull out a wrench and beat that woman senseless. “What the [censored] was her deal?”

“She even looks cute when she’s angry.”

Zack fought to stifle his laugh. “Just the same type you find in most of the wastes I suppose.”

As they walked a bit further they saw a large building to their right. It had the words “Goods Store” painted on a sign on the roof. The building was the type one would see in the old west era. It was made of a dark brown wood with several glass windows. There was a small wooden planked sidewalk in front of it. All the buildings in Cherry Cliff seemed to be made in the same fashion. The Goods Store windows had some light showing through them so it must still be in business.

“I bet that’s where they sell the higher quality items.” Zack gestured with his head. “They get you on your way in with that horrible cheap stuff.”

“Yeah. Hey Zack, look at this.” Kade jogged a little ahead of him.

Zack made his over to where she stopped. The path forked here splitting off to the right and left. Before them was a long pole which must have been forty feet in length. It was tethered to the ground with thick wire in several places. Above their heads was a wooden bridge bound with rope extending from one side of the second level to the other.

“This must be their lightning rod. Check that out.” Kade pointed to a small fenced off area next to another building that did not have distinct markings to what it was.

Zack could see a cable running from the lightning rod to some kind of blocky item inside the fenced off area.

“They must be able to store the electricity there. That means they have power!” She said happily.

“Not enough to light up the area outside though. But hopefully most of the buildings here can utilize it.”

Zack looked to the building ahead. It looked like a large house, and he could see a Ranger patrolling back and forth on the porch in front, with military assault rifle in hand.

“Must be guarding something, or someone?”

Zack looked back to Kade, but she began walking along the path to the left. He followed her and saw an opening against the back part of tall cliff. The opening was being supported by large wooden beams. Emerging from it were rails which came out a ways and turned to the right and entered another building. This building was two stories, and had what looked like two smokestacks made of metal coming out of its roof. Zack did not see anything flowing through them at this time though. He then heard the sound of something that sounded like a flamer coming from the opening.

“Rex had said the mine was up and running now.”

A Mister Handy model robot came out hovering from the mine. Behind it was pulling a large cart along the rails with two of its arms grasped on it. The cart was overflowing with ore. The robot pulled the cart along the rails in into the building next to the mine. After a moment people started to emerge from the mine as well. They were wearing coveralls and hard hats with lights attached on top. They carried picks, shovels, and one man carried a box of what looked like dynamite. All the people were covered with the red dust from the mountain. They placed their tools by the building next to the mine, which Zack now believed was a refinery which had made those rods that left earlier that day.

As the people passed by, Zack could see their faces clearer, which were badly disfigured, they were ghouls. He had no prejudice against ghouls but he figured right away that they were being used to mine at a lower wage than would be paid to a person. Kade seemed a little squeamish as they passed by and hid behind him. They trudged down the path and out of sight.

“I don’t know what it is, but they just freak me out.” Kade said and came alongside Zack.

“They are only different physically. Most of them don’t mean any harm.”

“I know that, I just- I can’t put it into words, sorry.”

“It’s alright. I’m starving though. There’s got to be a place up on the second level where we can eat. Come on.”

They turned around walked down the path. Zack saw a building he did not see before now to his right. It was about the same size as that house he saw by the lightning rod. A NCR flag was hanging in one of the windows of this building. He supposed it was their barracks.

“I hope Calhoun is resting peacefully.”

As they made their way to the stairs they passed near the bazaar. Zack saw a brown skinned couple walking ahead of them, the woman holding a blanket swaddled baby in her arms. Zack thought he would try his luck and approached them.

“Hello there, is there a place to eat up on the second level?”

They couple both looked confused and the man said something quickly that Zack didn’t comprehend.

“I’m sorry, what?” Zack asked.

Kade laughed and pushed Zack lightly aside. She began speaking the same language that the couple had used. All Zack could do was stand there while they conversed. He had no idea that Kade spoke more than one language. The conversation went on for what seemed like five minutes before the couple walked away to the left. Kade turned to face Zack. He had a quizzical look on his face.

“What?” Kade asked.

“What just happened here? What were you speaking? Chinese?”

“No silly, that was Spanish. I figured you’d pick up on that. Take your town for instance.”

“What do you mean?”

Kade covered her mouth and laughed a few times. “Sorry. Polvo, it means dust in Spanish. I’m guessing whoever founded it must have thought it a witty name.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that. And when do you speak multiple languages anyways?”

“Well, just my mother was Hispanic. My father understood some, but my mother mainly spoke Spanish. The rest of Dedge spoke English though, so I learned both.”

“Interesting, I bet that comes in handy. So what did they have to say?”

“Come on, I’ll tell you while we walk.”

Zack followed Kade towards the stairs that lead up to second level from the left side from the entrance.

“Well I asked her about this place, where to eat, where to stay, and the history. She said there is a place up here where we can go to get food. She also said that Cherry Cliff has a spring nearby where they can channel in plenty of water.”

As they reached the top of the stairs Kade pointed to the left. A pleasant breeze flowed by as she spoke. “There are outhouses there. With no real plumbing of any kind here the sewage just runs into some cavern somewhere.” She walked to her right and Zack followed. “Here we go. J’s Saloon and Grill.”

Before them stood a large building with many glass windows with “J’s” painted black above the entrance where music was flowing outward from. The doors were the classic double hinged batwing doors, which probably meant the place never closed, no way to lock up. Zack thought that this would probably the busiest place in the settlement. He could smell booze and food cooking. It made his mouth water, and his stomach growl. Zack walked up some stairs and went through the swinging doors first. The floorboards creaked underneath his feet and the door’s hinges squeaked.

The place was packed, with people and ghouls alike. There were even a few off duty NCR Rangers. No one seemed to pay them any particular attention when they entered. The lighting was dim, but was run by electricity, small single bulb lamps hung from the ceiling. Against the back wall was a wooden bar, with many stools in front of it. Behind it against the wall were many filled bottles of different colors, cups and glasses of all shapes and sizes, and large rectangular mirror. The mirror was cracking slightly in its lower right corner. Above this near the ceiling were the skulls of different animals. Zack could see Brahmin, Jackal Rabbit, Mole Rat, and even what looked like a Deathclaw. Zack shuddered a little when he identified the last one.

On the left side of the saloon sat many old wooden circular tables, accompanied by wooden chairs, and a colorful looking jukebox, which was playing a fast beat song at the moment. There were double doors by the bar which must lead to a kitchen of some kind. On the right side of the place sat a pool table, a square table with several slot machines atop, and three hexagonal tables with green felt on them, for playing cards Zack thought joyfully.
The atmosphere was loud with conversations, pool balls clacking together, slot machines paying out, and the sounds of cards being shuffled. The place had a wide variety of people, but Zack felt that it was safe enough. He gestured to Kade a free table along the wall. They both placed their bags by their chairs and sat facing each other. Zack tried to get the attention of a middle aged waitress that was nearby.

“What a busy place.” Zack said towards Kade.

“Yeah, I hope they can make the food quick, I’m afraid I might pass out soon.”

“Heya kiddos, what can I get for you?” The waitress asked standing by the edge of their table. She wore a red apron over some pre-war clothes.

“Um, menus would be nice, please.” Zack responded. The waitress left and returned a moment later with the menus.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She walked away to tend to the other patrons.

Zack and Kade looked over the menus. They were in old plastic holders and were composed mainly of pictures of items, with small amounts of writing underneath.

“Wow, they have a wide selection to choose from, must help that the Rangers are here.” Kade said over the top of her menu.

“Yeah, remember you can get whatever you’d like, Spoon Jacker is buying.”

The reminder of the name seemed to cause Kade to frown. Zack saw this.

“I’m sorry Kade, I sometimes speak without thinking.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m going to enjoy this meal more knowing he’s gone. It’s funny too if you think about it, if he showed up with me here, he would have probably been shot on sight. I would probably be stranded here though, since I don’t have any caps to my name.”

Zack didn’t know how to respond, but luckily the waitress came back over so he didn’t have to.

“Alright, you ready to order now?”

“Yeah, go ahead first Kade.”

“I’ll take two of the Gila Monster bits grilled burritos, with a side of corn salad, and to drink, bring a bottle of red wine.”

“Okay, and you?”

“I’ll take a large Brahmin steak well done, with some squirrel stew, and a side of corn salad. Do you have any Nuka Cola?

“Yeah.”

“Okay, I’ll take two bottles, thanks.” He took Kade’s menu from her and gave both back to the waitress. She walked away to place the order.

“It’s good to finally rest after traveling a bit. I might stay an extra day if it’s okay with the Rangers. Come tomorrow are you going to see about any caravans coming through?”

“Yeah, that Hispanic couple said to check the Good’s Store out. The owner usually knows when they’re coming.”

“Alright, sounds good.”

A man with a clean shaven face wearing a black pin stripe suit accompanied with hat walked over to the table they both sat at. He looked towards Kade, completely ignoring Zack’s presence. “Hello beautiful, why don’t you come over to my table so I can buy you a drink and we can get to know each other better?”

Without looking up Kade answered. “Piss off!”

The man was taken aback. “Now, now. Is that anyway to talk to a gentleman?” He spoke with suaveness.

Kade turned her head slowly and looked up to the man. “Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t realize who I was talking to.” She said with sarcasm. “[Censored] off, sir!”

The man frowned, mumbled something, turned, and walked away.

Zack sat staring ahead smiling. He was trying to keep from laughing at the conversation that just occurred in front of him.

“What?” She asked him.

“Hmm? Nothing.”

“Guys can be so full of themselves. They think since just because they are male and have a pair hanging between their legs they can just go up to any woman, spit out a line, and expect the woman to just to bend over right there for them!”

“Well, not all of us at least.” Zack responded.

“Yeah, present company excluded I guess.”

Both of them broke out in laughter.

The waitress came back with a circular tray in hand and sat down two bottles of Nuka Cola, one bottle of wine, and a single glass. Zack opened up one of the bottles of Nuka Cola and drank half of it at once. It was thick and sweet, but sat well in his empty stomach. Since they had electricity here as well, the soda was surprisingly cool. Kade opened up the bottle of wine and pushed the glass off to the side. She drank straight from the bottle.

They passed the rest of the time waiting for their food in silence, both low on energy from lack of nutrition last couple of days.

Hmmm, that "gentleman" is gonna be trouble I think. This is a really good story, and i eagerly await the next section.

Chapter 2.8 - Farewell

August 22nd, 2279

The food arrived about fifteen minutes after they had ordered. Zack had already finished one bottle of Nuka Cola and Kade about a third of her wine. Everything on Zack's plate was warm and tasted excellent. They both ate ravenously from their plates. This side of the saloon that they both were on seemed more pleasant of the two. There was laughter, delighted conversation, and relaxing music. The other side held the rants of drunks, the curses of missed shots at the pool table, and the anger of a losing hand at the poker tables.

Kade was the first to finish her food, she pushed her plate forwards and drank more from her bottle of wine. As Zack continued on with his meal, he watched as Kade glanced around the saloon, taking in all the excitement. She had a smile on her face, most likely glad that she wasn't forced here by a slaver and placed on some wooden stage to be sold off to the highest bidder. As Zack finished the last of his Brahmin steak, the saloon started to clear out considerably.

"Alright guys, that will be a hundred and five caps for everything combined. Please don't tell me now you want separate checks, cause I don't really feel like breaking it all down." The waitress told them seeing now that they had finished.

"One total is fine, thanks." Zack opened his pack up and took out the small pouch that he had taken from Spoon Jacker. He started counting out the caps as the waitress gathered up the dishes. Zack scooted the pile of caps in front of him to the side of the table.

The waitress brushed them into a pocket in front of her apron and picked up the dishes. "I'm going to go count this in the back, so it all better be here." She then walked off towards the kitchen.

Zack smiled at the waitress's words and scratched the top of his head. "The price seemed a little high for what we ordered."

"Yeah about that, when I spoke to that couple before, they said that the commander of the Rangers places his own tax on everything in Cherry Cliff. So as he sends shipments of copper back to California, he is making a killing off the residents, merchants, and wastelanders. They told me he lives in that house by the power storage unit that was fenced off."

"It might not be as bad as it sounds. The money from the taxes could be going back into Cherry Cliff. He probably had to purchase both the NCR barracks and the other building he lives in, which probably also acts as headquarters for the settlement. Since he is the one in charge of the copper shipment, he has to pay the ghouls to mine it. He has to keep his Rangers fed, stocked with medical supplies, and have plenty of ammunition on hand. He has his Platoon guarding this settlement, putting his Ranger's lives in danger everyday to keep them safe. The Rangers probably get paid a monthly wage as well."

"Wow." Kade dragged the word out as she said it. "I didn't think of all that stuff."

"Yeah, you see how costly it can be when you're on the other side."

"They didn't mention anything like that. They seemed terrified of this, uh, Lieutenant Green. They described him as a large muscled dark skinned man. A long scar runs from the top of his head over his right eye and nose. He wears an eye patch over the socket. They say he always has a cigar in his mouth, along with a gold front tooth. The boots he wears are huge and have metal plating on the front with a grinning skull on the tips. He likes to drink whiskey all hours of the day. Sometimes he gets drunk and rides a donkey around Cherry Cliff pulling his revolver out and shooting it wildly at anything or anyone. Usually only the other Rangers can get him under control."

"Really?" Zack shook his head chuckling. "He must've pissed off the wrong officer or something and got sent out here to baby sit this copper mine."

"Yeah, he doesn't sound very friendly, I'd rather just avoid the man altogether."

"So did that couple say where we could stay the night?"

"Yes they did. Once you leave here and walk near the edge of the cliff you will see the bridge that goes to the other side. Once you make it across you walk to the left. You will see the hotel there. If you go right by accident you will come across the resident's homes."

"Alright, that sounds like it will work."

Zack reached over to his pack and opened the part with the hidden compartment in it. He took the pouch from earlier, which still had some caps in it, and filled it with it with more caps that he kept hidden here. He tied the pouch and placed it on the table. He grabbed the bottle in front of him and finished the last of his Nuka Cola.

"Now for the hard part."

"Well." Zack stared down at a disfigured knot within the wood of the table. "I guess this is where we go our separate ways." He looked up to her face. "I'm going to go check out that hotel. Are you going to try the Good's Store to see about a caravan?"

Kade nodded slowly. She was looking down at the wine bottle in her hands, moving her thumb up and down across its label.

"Here." Zack moved the pouch across the table in front of her. "This should be enough to get a room at the hotel, buy a couple more meals, and pay your way with a caravan."

Kade looked up from the bottle to Zack. Her green eyes were shaking slightly. "Thank you Zack. You've been so helpful to me these last couple of days. Your kindness is a real rarity."

Zack stood up from the table. "I'm glad we arrived here together without injury and I hope you get back safely to Dedge. Take care of yourself Kade." He held his right hand out as to shake hers.

Kade looked to Zack's hand and then to his eyes. She quickly got out of her chair, jumped up wrapping her hands around his neck, and hugged him tightly.

Surprised, Zack had no choice but to return the hug. He could feel the cool metal of her bracelet on his neck as her head rested on his chest.

"Thanks for everything." She said softly.

The hug broke after a few moments and Kade sat back down grabbing her bottle of wine. "I'm just gonna finish this first before I leave. Don't want it to go to waste."

Zack nodded. He grabbed his pack and placed it on his shoulders. "Farewell Kade." A lump in his throat was present as he spoke. He quickly turned, walked to the entrance, pushed the swinging doors open, and made his way down the steps.

Zack located the wooden bridge not too far away. There was a burning barrel sitting next to it. He crossed it slowly holding on to the rope that served as the guard rail with his right hand. The bridge was wobbly, but seemed like it was built to last. When he finished crossing, he looked to the left. He saw the building that must be the hotel. It was two stories and had a lot of windows. He made his way slowly towards it, staring at the ground as he walked. He saw a rusted tin can lying on the ground and kicked it a few times till he neared the building. Zack stepped up on the wooden planked sidewalk, and opened the door which its top portion was mainly a glass window.

The lobby was kept clean. Immediately to his right was a small sofa. The fabric was a faded green. It had gaudy gold arm rests and legs. Further right was a hallway which looked to lead to rooms. In front of him a ways was a staircase to the second floor. The lighting in here was run by power as well. A man wearing tan slacks, blue vest, and red tie was standing behind a small counter to the left. His hair was brown and was hanging down past his shoulders. He looked like he was busy reading something that Zack couldn't see. Zack made his way over to the counter and placed his hands on upon it.

"How's it going?" He asked the man.

The man jumped a little from Zack's question. "Oh. I'm sorry man. I got lost in this book. What can I do for you?"

Interested Zack looked over the counter. "What is it you are you reading?"

The man picked up the book and showed Zack the cover. "It's one of those Sherlock Holmes crime novels. This one is called The Hound of the Baskervilles. I'm about halfway through and it's starting to get really interesting. I thought I had an idea of what was going on, but not so sure anymore."

Zack nodded. "I might have to read it sometime if I find a copy. How much is a room for the night?"

"Well we have single beds, doubles, and then a deluxe suite, which has a large bed and its own bathroom. Otherwise you have to use the community bathroom at the end of the hall."

"A single will do. Do they have powered lights in them?"

"Sorry, no. Only the deluxe suite has power to them."

"No worries. Is there a bathtub in this community restroom?"

"Yes, it will cost extra for that. I can have someone bring water and soap if you would like to have one this evening."

"Yeah I'd like that."

"Alright, single room and water for bath. That will be five hundred caps, and I'll need that up front before I can give you the key, just policy."

Zack took off his pack and withdrew the amount from his hidden compartment. He put the caps on the counter and waited while the man counted them. Zack sat down on the sofa and waited patiently.

A few minutes passed. The man looked over to Zack. "Okay. Here is your key. You'll be on the second floor, room seventeen. That will be on the left. Once the bath is ready someone will knock on your door to inform you."

Zack nodded, stood up, and walked over to the counter and received the key from the man.

"Anything else I can do for you?"

"Yeah, do you have the time?"

The man looked at a spot behind the counter. "It's a little after eight."

"Thanks." Zack picked up his pack and walked up the stairs holding it at his side.

Zack located his room. It was the second door on the left. He inserted the key and unlocked the deadbolt. It seemed like it would be difficult to pick and would be safe to leave his belongings in the room. He opened the door and entered the room. The room was quite small. Along the right side of the it against the wall was the bed. The frame was wood and it had gray sheets and a pillow on it. Next to the bed's headboard sat a small nightstand with a kerosene lamp and a pack of matches next to it. Above it was a window which only faced part of the mountain, hardly worth installing in the first place.

Zack placed his pack and canteen down in the space between the foot of the bed and the entry wall. He made his way over to lamp and lit it with the first match. He walked back and closed the door, locking it as he did so. He placed his goggles and head wrap on the nightstand. He undid the strap to his pauldron and took off his duster placing it on the bed. He sat down next to it and removed his boots and socks, and slid them underneath the bed. He sat there staring blankly at the wall, with its paint peeling at the edges. He sighed and closed his eyes. The silence was eating at him.

"I didn't think that saying goodbye to her would be so difficult."

Zack had become quite used to having Kade to speak to the past couple of days. She came from an interesting place and seemed very talented with technology and explosives. It was amusing to hear her thoughts on the topics they discussed.

Zack was not sure how much time passed while he sat there thinking with his eyes closed when a small knock was heard coming from his door. He opened his eyes.

"Excuse me sir." A muffled female's voice came though the door. "Your bath is ready at the end of the hall."

Zack got up, unlocked, and opened the door. A young woman stood before him. Her face was smudged and she wore torn garments. She stood with no emotion not making any contact with Zack's eyes. Zack reached back to his pouch and withdrew some caps.

"Thanks for getting it ready." Zack placed the caps in the girl's hand.

A smiled appeared on her face. "Thank you very much sir, enjoy the bath." She quickly turned and vanished down the hall.

Zack went to his pack and withdrew his razor and toothbrush. He left the room and locked it. He then made his way barefoot down the hallway towards his bath.

Chapter 2.9 - Girls Just Want To Have Fun

August 22nd, 2279

Zack opened the slightly crooked bathroom door. The bathroom was about twice the size as his room. The floor was composed of cracking white tiles. To his right sat a lime green ceramic sink and toilet. Across the room against the wall sat a same style bathtub. It was filled with water and along its surface were small patches of bubbles. The water did seem to have a light reddish tint though, most likely due to the mountains. Next to the tub sat a small square brown table with different plastic bottles of liquids on it. He figured they were soaps of some kind. Against the wall was a rack which had two towels on it.

Zack closed the door and latched it. If anyone needed to use the facilities, they would have to go down to the first floor. He stripped and placed his clothes atop the toilet's lid. He placed his holster belt on the table with his revolver in reach of the bathtub. Zack looked into the mirror above the sink at himself. He wasn't a bad looking man, just a little rough around the edges. His nose was a bit larger than he would have liked and a few of his teeth were crooked. He moved his hands across his cheeks, feeling the stubble that had grown there. He then looked to his fingers. He still had all his digits, he was grateful for that. He then looked over his body. Like most people the wastes, he was riddled with scars and several burns. He ran his fingers over the ones on his upper body. Each one told a different story from what had occurred.

The scar a few inches below his left armpit had been a painful one. A band of raiders had managed to sneak into Polvo and taken refuge in one of the resident's homes, killing all inside first. A passerby had heard screams and called for help. The raiders began to fire on the town from the cover of the home. Zack managed to creep his way to the backside of the building. He had done so in haste and was only able to grab his combat knife and assault rifle with the one magazine in it.

Zack went in through a broken window undetected. As the rest of the militia fired onto the house from the front, Zack navigated inside quietly. He came to the kitchen where a man was shooting a shotgun out the broken window. He dispatched the man quickly by a three round burst from his gun. Zack was going to head to the living room next. As he was about to leave the kitchen's doorway, rounds splattered into the wall to his right and splintered parts of the wooden frame causing them to fly towards his face. Zack quickly fell backwards into the kitchen. Another raider must have heard his gunfire. He crouched low and aimed his rifle around the corner of the doorframe and fired two bursts down the hall. There was return fire, but it seemed like it was shot blindly. As the firing stopped, he heard a curse and the sound of metal grazing against metal.

Zack figured they were reloading and ran down the hallway towards the living room. Just as he entered, a female raider was just about to get a magazine into her 10mm submachine gun. He gunned her down before she could finish. Zack then made his way to the stairs to the upper level. He figured he had a couple bursts left on his rifle. He thought about taking the raider's weapon, but didn't want to chance that it might not work properly. He kept his back to the wall and moved slowly down. He glanced into a room. It was a bedroom and inside was two bodies, the residents. One was face down on the floor with a knife jutting from his back, the other in the bed, covered with a bloodstained blanket. He made his way further down to another doorway. He crouched low and peered inside. He saw two male raiders taking shots out of different windows. One was using a hunting rifle and the other a Chinese assault rifle.

Zack pulled his rifle out in front of him and moved into the doorway. He aimed at the closest raider first and fired. The raider went down screaming. The other one looked over to his fallen comrade as Zack moved his gun to him and fired. His gun clicked, it was empty. He starting sprinting towards the raider as the man realized there was someone in the room and began turning his body towards Zack. Zack grabbed the end of the barrel of his rifle and swung the butt of it at the raider's face. Automatic gunfire filled the air. Zack was able to hit the man's head, knocking him out. Zack didn't come out unscathed though. He took a 5.56mm round to his left side. It broke two of his ribs and caused him to blackout from the pain. Luckily it didn't pierce his lung or he might have lost it. He woke up later on a gurney with Dr. Sylvia standing over him.

Zack felt the long scar that began at the top of his chest running down at an angle in-between his pectorals and ending at the bottom of his sternum. It was caused by a merchant that had done business in Polvo but decided that he wanted to take back a deal. Zack had told him the trading was over and to leave immediately. The man had some kind of spring assembly in his jacket sleeve, a small blade came rushing into the merchant's hand and he thrust it downwards at Zack. Zack was able to push the man's hand away some while it came at him. The attack had been aimed at his heart, but instead only gashed him. The merchant was tackled by other members of his squad and spent five months in chains.. Zack looked down to the small circular one where his right pelvic bone was. He had taken a hit by a laser pistol. He wasn't too angry about this one though. It was caused by friendly fire of a new recruit for the militia. She was on guard duty, Zack had come up on her without making it known and she shot first before asking questions. She was very apologetic afterwards, but Zack waved her off, it was just as much as his fault. She helped him to Dr. Sylvia.

There were many more scars from glass, metal instruments, and fire along the surfaces of his body. One other noteworthy one was on his right shin. It went around the sides of his calf. A Rad Scorpion had managed to latch on to his leg and was about to strike at him with its poisonous stinger. The pain was intense. He was happy though that the thing didn't break his leg in half. Zack had thought that his time on this world was over. Off to the side however, his friend Alex had come down the creature's head with a super sledge, killing it in the process. The monster's claw released from Zack's leg when it died. It was back to the med clinic for him. Dr. Sylvia had told him she was getting a little tired of patching Zack up and he needed to be more careful. Yeah, Zack had thought, try to avoid violence in the wastes.

Zack made his way to the bathtub and got in. The water was just the right warmness to feel comfortable. He had brought his razor and toothbrush inn the tub with him. He shaved his face and trimmed the top of his head some. He then used some of the water upon his toothbrush to clean his teeth. He spent a good hour just sitting in there relaxing and cleaning his dirtied body.

After he was finished, he got out of the tub and dried himself with a towel. It felt great to be clean even though the bath was quite expensive. He sat down by the tub and used the other towel to try and clean the outside of his clothes as best as he could by dipping the towel in the water. He redressed and made his way back to his room.

Zack sat down on the bed and pulled his shoes out from under it. He put his socks and shoes back on his feet. He went into his duster and took out his silver coin. Zack stood up and made his way to his pack to get some caps. He wanted to go back to the saloon and play some poker. All he was wearing was his black boots, charcoal gray pants, and tucked in navy blue shirt. He left his hotel room and locked it behind him. He made his way downstairs and out of the hotel. The man at the counter took no notice of him as he left, still engrossed in the Sherlock Holmes book in his hands.

As Zack exited the hotel, he took notice of the temperature in Cherry Cliff. It had cooled down quite considerably. This sometimes happens in the Arizona wastes. The days can be blistering hot and at night you might need the warmth of a campfire. It was almost like the surface of some alien world. As Zack made his way over to the bridge which led back to the saloon he saw the residential houses that Kade had mentioned earlier. He saw quite a few ghouls hanging around the entrances to them. They most likely get room and board deducted from their wages from working in the mine.

Zack swung open the doors to the saloon with his head turned towards the poker tables. There was only one table with action that had five people currently playing at it. They were playing five card draw. Not Zack's best or favorite game, but it has been some time since he had played, and he was in need of some practice. Zack also saw two people by the pool table and one person feeding caps into a slot machine. He heard music playing in the background. Zack made his way over to the bar. The bartender was a balding man of maybe in his early forties. He wore short sleeved, blue striped, white button up shirt, with black pants, and a forest green apron. At the moment he was tending to someone else sitting at end of the bar. Zack did not sit down at the bar, just leaned against it until the man was able to assist him. Unintentionally, Zack looked up to the Deathclaw skull hanging near the ceiling. He quickly looked down to the bottles behind the bar and kept his eyes fixed on what looked like a bottle of whiskey.

"Evening, what can I get you?" The man had finally came over to Zack.

"I'll take two beers."

"Twenty caps."

Zack took out and placed the caps on the counter. The bartender reached under the counter and came out with a bottle in each hand. He set them upon the bar. He then took a bottle opener from his apron pocket, opened them, and scooted them towards Zack.

"Thanks." Zack told the bartender.

The bartender took the caps and walked off to a register. Zack picked up the bottles and took a swig of the one in his right hand. He wasn't much of a drinker but it helped him relax while he played cards. He turned and started walking towards the poker table in use. He hoped that they would allow him to join. Sometimes players liked how the game was currently playing and did not want to mess up the flow. As he made his way, a familiar song came on the jukebox. It was one his father had liked.

As he was about halfway to the table he heard cheering, hooting, and whistling coming from the other side of the saloon. He turned his head towards the sounds and felt his jaw drop. In the corner of the saloon which he did not see when he entered, by the jukebox, up on a wooden table, was Kade. She was dancing seductively, moving her body with perfect rhythm to the beat. She held a bottle in one of her hands. Around her the tables were full of men with their eyes fixed upon her, with drinks in their hands, and grins across their faces.

"Wow, I didn't take her for that kind of girl."

Zack turned away from the poker table and went back to the bar placing his bottles upon it. He sat on the stool with his body towards Kade. He picked up one of the beers and drank its contents fully. He placed the now empty bottle on the counter hard.

As the chorus came up, Kade pulled the zipper to her jumpsuit down to the top of the belt she wore. All that was covering her upper body was the small white tank top she wore underneath the jumpsuit. This got the crowd watching to voice their approval. She took a drink from the bottle in her hand, some of its contents spilled down her chin.

Zack picked up and started in on the second beer in disappointment from what Kade was doing. The bartender came over and stood by Zack.

"Enjoying the show I take it? Can I get you another beer?" The man asked happily.

Zack shook his head but kept his eyes on Kade's face. Her green eyes seemed distant somehow. "All this from some wine, huh?"

Kade took her arms out from the sleeves of the jumpsuit passing the bottle between hands as she did so. She pulled the top portion of her jumpsuit down behind her to her waist. The belt she wore over the jumpsuit prevented it from going any lower though. She then did a full circle turn, moving her hips while she went, with her arms reaching outwards above her head. When she finished the turn e she brought her arms back down in front of her stomach. The right strap of her tank top sagged from her shoulder to her upper arm.

"Wine? Hell no. I saw that bottle of wine she had earlier. She came up here, had a few beers, and then switched to straight vodka. She was going on about some [censored] named Jacker or something. She said she wanted to forget the time they spent together. I'd just figured it was some boyfriend or something. A little while later, some guy suggested that she dance for everyone. She's been up there for about the last four songs. That young lady is wasted out of her mind."

Zack quickly looked to the bartender's face and saw truthfulness there. All this time he had been watching, he figured Kade had just loosened up from the wine and wanted to get up there on the table.

"She's obviously not in control of herself. Why would you allow this to continue?" Zack asked angrily.

"Well [censored], I'm not about to say no to some free entertainment. It helps greatly with the sales."

At this time Kade was trying to pull her jumpsuit further downwards with her free hand, the belt hindered this though. She tried to loosen it, but was having difficulty.

Zack wasn't sure if she wore anything underneath on her lower body. He didn't want the room full of aroused men to find out either. Zack swore loudly, quickly got off his stool, it toppled over in the process. As he made his way over to the corner of the saloon a man in leather armor got up from one of the tables and stood in front of Kade.

"Hey sweetie, let me help you with that." The man reached down to her belt and was attempting to take it off.

Zack rushed over, navigating through tables, chairs, and people to finally arrive by Kade. He pushed the man a little off to the side.

"Back off!" Zack commanded.

"[Censored] you!" He spat back.

The man in leather armor then threw a punch and it hit the left side of Zack's face. It wasn't too hard of a hit, only causing a little soreness in his jaw. Surely the man was inebriated some. Zack used both his arms to push the man to the floor. He fell down hard cursing and knocking over a couple chairs in the process. There were shouts of protest coming from the crowd. They obviously had wanted to see the rest of the show.

Kade dropped the bottle that she was holding in her hands. It bounced off the edge of the table and fell to the ground. It contents spilled out of its mouth and pooled on the floorboards. Kade cupped her hands over her mouth and was giggling hysterically at the two men fighting in front of her.

The man on the floor started to get up and pulled a wicked looking blade with his right hand. As he stood up fully, Zack had already withdrawn his revolver and had it pointed at the man's face.

"Are you finished yet?" Zack asked.

The man's mouth was open slightly, his jaw was clenched, and his eyes were full of anger. He looked like he was still going to try and attack even with the end of the barrel pointed at his face.

From behind him, Zack heard footsteps and the unmistakable sound of a shotgun being cocked. He turned his head slightly to the left to see behind him and the man ahead. The bartender stood there holding a long barreled shotgun pointed at Zack's back.

"Donny, put that [censored]ing knife away and go sit down. And you, holster that thing, take that girl, and get the [censored] outta my place and don't either of you come back!" The bartender said loudly.

The entire saloon seemed to have gone silent, including the jukebox which finished playing the song. All eyes watched the scene ahead of them with looks of terror, excitement, and worry.

Donny seemed to think over his options before finally sheathing his blade. "Take the [censored]! And remember, heroes don't live forever." He then turned and walked towards the bar.

Zack exhaled and placed his revolver back in the holster. He held his left hand towards Kade.

"Come on down from there Kade."

Kade, looking confused as if she didn't know who he was, reached out and took Zack's hand nonetheless. Zack used his other arm and wrapped it around her waist and hoisted her down. He picked up her bag which was near the table, and slung it over his shoulder. He held her hand and started to walk towards the entrance. Zack was fearful that a blade or bullet might still enter his back as he walked. Kade staggered as she walked next to him. They went down the stairs once they were outside. Zack had to steady her greatly as she went.

Once on the ground, Kade immediately fell to her knees and vomited. Zack crouched down and did his best to hold her hair while she continued. When she finished she turned her head to the side looking at Zack.

"You know, you kinda cute mister." She then passed out.

Zack had to hurry and catch Kade's body before she fell in the mess she just created. He picked her up and carried her in his arms. Her head bounced lightly with each step he took. Zack walked onto the wooden bridge, and made his way towards his hotel room.

Chapter 3.1 - Stock Up

August 23rd, 2279

Zack had nodded off for just about five hours when Kade finally stirred in the bed. There was sunlight coming through the window at an angle, its light was bouncing off the wall. She made a small moaning sound and stretched out her body. Her arm knocked against the headboard some. Zack shook his head a little and opened his eyes. He was sitting down with his back against the wall facing the side of the bed. He had his revolver in his hand sitting on his lap with his finger resting on the trigger guard. Kade turned her body to face Zack. She only opened one of her eyes and had her hand in a closed fist rubbing the side of her head.

"Wha, where am I?" She asked with raspy breath.

Zack took a moment to wake up fully. His body was still sore from the past couple days of travel. He thought back to last night when he entered the hotel and how the man behind the counter had reacted. It was difficult to open the entry door while having Kade in his arms, but he finally managed. The conversation played back through his mind.

"What can I do for you?" The man had asked. His eyes never swayed from the book in his hands.

"I'm good, thanks." Zack had responded.

The man looked up from his book with shock on his face. He tried to force himself to make a straight face, but had some trouble keeping it. "Um, will that young lady be in need of a room to sleep off whatever she decided to take part in this evening?"

"No, she'll stay with me."

"Alright, uh…very good sir." He then went back to his book as Zack walked up the stairs with Kade.

Zack looked over into her one open eye. "Well good morning. You're in my hotel room currently."

"What happened last night?"

"It seems like you decided to have a few more drinks after I left the saloon."

"Oh no. I don't remember much of anything after I finished that wine. I usually only stick with wine, other stuff tends to make me to do weird things. I didn't do anything like did I?"

Zack gave a small laugh and smiled. "Let's just say that it was fortunate that I went back to the saloon when I did."

"Ugh." Kade turned her body to sit on the bed. Zack had taken the time to zip her jumpsuit back to the top. She had her head facing down with her hands over her eyes. She brought her head up and brushed her hair backwards.

"My head is pounding, and my mouth tastes like [censored]."

"My canteen and some mentats are on the night stand for you there." Zack pointed next to the bed.

"Thanks." Kade reached over and put some of the mentats in her mouth and chewed. She grabbed the canteen and took a long drink from it before setting it back down. "What did I end up doing?"

"Well, at first you were just dancing to some music. Nothing too bad. A crowd had gathered around you to watch, so you decided to try and take off your jumpsuit next. Luckily your belt prevented it from coming off completely. But there was this real nice man willing to help you out. Kade had the look of disgust when he said the last part. "Oh, did I mention you were up a wooden table the whole time."

"I can't believe I did all that. I'm so embarrassed. Now everyone in town has seen me."

"Relax Kade. Like I said, it was good I was there. I stopped that man before he could finish getting your belt off. I then took you back here to sleep it off."

She exhaled. "That's a relief. Thanks Zack. I'm sorry you always have to rescue me from situations."

Zack shrugged. "It's alright Kade."

"I feel horrible for making you sleep on the floor there. How come you didn't use your bedroll?"

"Well, it seems like some people either saw where I went with you, or asked around. But I had quite a view visitors knocking last night. They asked how much it would be to spend some time alone with you. They thought I was your pimp or something. I had to stay awake for most of the night telling them off." Zack lifted his arm gesturing his revolver.

"What animals." She looked around the room fully. "Is there a bathroom here somewhere?"

"Yeah, it's down at the end of the hall, you okay to walk?"

"I think I'll be ok, thanks." Kade got up walked over to the door, unlocked it with difficulty, and left the room.

Zack stood up and put his revolver away. He stretched his arms outward and heard his back crack a few times. Kade had left the door open when she left. He didn't close it so she could find her way back. He got his belongings together, filled his canteen, and took his map out. He placed his duster back on, attached the pauldron, and sat on the bed waiting for the return of Kade while he looked at his map. It seemed like the next settlement to get water and supplies was called Aguila, about three days travel from Cherry Cliff by the distance.

What seemed like ten minutes, Kade finally returned. She had taken the time to clean her face, and untangle the mess of her hair. She stood by the doorway of the room.

"Well, I should probably check out of here before I get charged for another night." Zack said as he got up and placed his map back in his pack.

"Did you happen to get my bag?"

"Yeah, it's by the end of the bed."

She walked over and picked up her side bag. "Oh good. I'd feel horrible if I lost my journal. I've had it for a long time."

Zack got up and grabbed his pack and put it on his shoulders along with his now full canteen. "Come on, we'll go see about that caravan at the Good's Store. I need to restock anyhow."

They both made their way to the lobby of the hotel. There was a different person behind the counter this time when Zack walked down the stairs, an older woman. He turned in his key and left the hotel with Kade.

"Should we get something to eat at the J's first before we check the store out?"

"Actually, we both kind of got banned from that place last night. I fought with that man that tried to undo your belt, and I also withdrew my gun. The bartender didn't like that too much."

"Oh." She responded softly.

"I'm sure they have some food at that store though. Don't worry."

They made their way down the wooden steps to the first level. The small bazaar was bustling with activity this morning. Zack also could see smoke rising from the refinery near the end of Cherry Cliff.

"Must be making more of those copper rods."

They both passed the merchants selling various things, and headed towards the Good's Store. They walked on to the wooden planked sidewalk and Zack opened the door. It creaked as it extended fully. The lighting was dim and it smelled of turpentine. The store seemed void of customers as far as Zack could tell. He didn't even see anyone behind the counter at the other end of the store. There were three aisles present, with shelves holding a variety of goods. There seemed to be no organization to how things were arranged. There was food items mixed with ammunition. Weapons were sitting by cooking ware. Zack walked down the middle aisle towards the counter. Kade looked around with excitement and went down the left aisle, picked up and seemed to be inspecting some kind of wired contraption.

As Zack neared the counter he heard faint music coming from a doorway behind the counter, most likely some kind of backroom.

"Maybe they're not open." Zack called back to Kade.

"I'm right here mother [censored]! You are so loud." A voice said from behind the counter.

Zack leaned over the counter and saw a stocky Asian man sitting down on a chair eating something. He was wearing gray pants, a long sleeved white shirt, and had large glasses upon his face. Upon his shoulder sat some kind of yellowish lizard of some sort.

"Sorry I didn't see you back there. You're open for business?"

"What! Of course, I'm here aren't I?"

"Sorry if upset you. I'll just go take a look at your wares. Zack turned and walked towards Kade. He moved close to her and whispered. "That guy is a little strange."

Kade giggled some and put the object she was holding back on the shelf. Zack still had no idea what it was she was looking at. "Zack?" She said slowly. "I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what's up?"

"I- I decided I don't wanted to return to Dedge right away. I've thought about it for quite some time since you told me you were going to New Vegas. I want to get out there and see different parts of the wastes. All I've seen for most of my life are just the areas in and around the Phoenix ruins. I would really like to go with you to see New Vegas. With my expertise with fixing things, I'm sure I could get a job somewhere that pays well. If not, I can always come make my way back."

Zack was taken aback by what she had said. It took sometime for him to think of a polite way to answer. "I really don't think that is a very good idea. It's dangerous out there as you know and if anything were to happen to you, I would never be able to forgive myself for allowing you to come."

Kade's face turned a little red and she spoke with a raised voice. "This is just because I'm a woman huh? You think I won't be able to handle myself out there, or that I won't be productive at all?" She turned her body away from Zack and spoke quietly. Look, I'd feel safer if I was to travel with you, but if you don't want my company, I'll go it alone."

Zack stood there looking at the back of her head for a few moments thinking. There appeared to be no other alternatives, her mind seemed made up. "Alright Kade, if those are the choices. We'll travel together.

Kade turned around quickly and looked up to him. "Really?"

"Yes, there are some rules that you are to follow if you are to come with me."

"Such as?" She asked with a little sadness.

"First, as long as we are not in a town or settlement, you'll do exactly as I say. If I tell you to stop, you stop. If I tell you to get down, you get down. Or if I tell you run and leave me to take on some horrible thing, you run. Got it?"

Kade nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Next, we are going to have to ration our supplies and try and conserve energy. So, we rest when I decide, eat how much I say, and we will keep conversation low as we travel, we can converse more at night when camp is set up, unless it is really necessary to speak. Can you handle this one?"

"Yes, it's not too bad."

"Alright, lastly, you need to send word to Dedge to let them know that you're ok, and where you're heading. I'm sure that they are worried about you. Also, we need to buy you some supplies and gear. I won't be carrying everything for us. For now that's all I can think of, but others might arise if need be."

Kade smiled big. "Great! Just let me know what I need to get."

Zack walked up and down the shelves looking at the assortment of treasures. He came one that had some weapons. "Hey Kade, you are going to need some protection out there. What do you feel comfortable with?"

Kade came over to where Zack stood. She looked over the array of weapons. She picked up a long knife. She looked it over on each side before placing it back down. She then picked up a 10mm submachine gun. She had to use both her hands to lift it and could barely keep it aimed out in front of her. Zack took notice of this and took it from her hands and placed it back on the shelf.

"I've never really used a gun before, all I've ever handled is dynamite and the mines back at Dedge."

Zack saw something silver sticking out from under some combat shotgun ammo drums. He pulled it by the part that stuck out. "Here you go Kade, how about this. It seems more suited to your style." He passed it over to her.

"Wow, a laser pistol out here. I think I only came across just one of them scavenging one time. But we traded it to a caravan. You think I'd be able to use this thing?"

"Sure, why not? There isn't much recoil and the accuracy is pretty good. You will have to tell me of its condition though. I have no expertise in the quality of laser weapons."

Kade looked it over in her hands, checking the wires and connecters. "Yeah, it seems like it's in pretty good shape. Do you think they have energy cells for it?"

"If not, it's still a good find." Zack looked down to her feet. "You okay with those shoes of yours? They seem like they would be painful after awhile."

"These things." She raised a foot and looked at them. "They are quite comfortable, I'd rather not get rid of them just yet."

Zack made his way through the store, bringing items to the counter to buy. He found a decent sized one compartment leather pack with attachments on the left side of it. He found a red colored padded blanket that would work perfectly as a sleeping pad for her. Zack also placed some sticks of dynamite, two one liter plastic bottles filled with water, and many containers of pre-war food. He also found some medical supplies, took two syringes of med-x and one stimpak. He set his own pack down and pulled out the ripper and the boxes of .32 caliber ammo.

He looked to the man still sitting down behind the counter. "I want all these items that are up here and any energy cells that you might have for the laser pistol. I have these to place up for trade as well."

The man hopped out of his chair and got up on an overturned wooden crate. His head barely rose above the counter. He looked at the ripper and opened the boxes of ammo to inspect the rounds. He then looked over all the things that Zack had placed on the counter. He made his way to the back room for a moment, and returned with five energy cells for the laser pistol. Kade was nearby looking at some bluish papers off to the side of the counter.

"Okay, I will deduct the price from what you brought." The owner looked like he was doing some math in his head. "Alright, twelve hundred caps for everything."

From his left Kade spoke. "That's a lot to spend on me Zack."

"It's fine. Oh yeah, are you able to send messages out through caravans? I'm looking to send one to Dedge. Do any caravans go through there?"

"Yes I can do that. It will be extra eighty caps, so twelve eighty then." The shop owner brought out some yellow paper and a pen upon the counter.

Kade made her way over. She took the paper and pen, and began writing a message to be delivered to Dedge.

Zack reached down to his pack and opened his hidden compartment. Kade happen to look down and could see all the caps that he had stored there. She kept silent about it though. Zack paid the man the amount agreed upon and starting to pack his and Kade's new bag with the supplies. Her new bedroll attached quite well to the pack. She placed it on her shoulders. He thanked the shop owner and they made their way to the entrance.

Kade leaned over and whispered. "Why are you traveling with so many caps, it seems dangerous to do so."

"The entry fee for the poker tournament is ten thousand caps. I have been saving for quite sometime."

"You have that many caps in there?"

"Well, not exactly. It's only little under six now. I have some ideas to make up the rest though."

Zack was the first to exit the store. As he did, he was hit in the gut by the butt of an assault rifle. The wind was knocked from him and his arms were restrained on each side by different people. He could hear Kade behind him yelling in protest.

Alright, there are the three posts that I promised. I hope that you enjoy them and won't read them too quickly since the next one won't be for awhile. I will be absent for this week, spending my time with my wife in Hawaii on a well deserved vacation. Please forgive any errors that are present, I didn't get as much time as I wanted to proofread them before I had to pack.

My friend has been working on some concept art. He didn't get finished with Zack yet, but here are two that he did.

http://i46.tinypic.com/30kr7yc.jpg In Multiple Chapters

http://i50.tinypic.com/bjgao0.jpg Chapter 2.9 - Girls Just Want To Have Fun

I loved the bit where Zack told Kade to do everything he said. The way he said it reminded me of The Doctor from Doctor Who. And that's some good concept art from your friend. Looking forward to your next post. Have a nice vacation by the way!

Chapter 3.2 - Anything But My Father's Gun

August 23rd, 2279

It took a few moments for Zack to regain himself and lift his head up to see who had assaulted him. He was being restrained on each side by two male NCR Rangers. He didn't recognize either of them. They moved him down from the wooden planked sidewalk to the path in front of the Good's Store. They started pulling him to the right along the path. Zack had no choice but to allow them to lead him. He couldn't resist the both of them with his arms restrained.

"Hey! What's going on? Leave him alone!" Kade came along the side of one of the Rangers and tried to tug on his arm.

"Please don't hurt her."

The Ranger brushed her off easily by jerking his arm away from her. "Back off, this doesn't involve you."

"But-" Kade's face looked like she was pondering something she could do.

Zack turned his head towards her. "Kade," he spoke hoarsely, "just do as they say until I find out what is going on."

Kade looked quite concerned. She was biting her lower lip and nodded once. She paused on the path and stood watching as they made their way towards the building next to the power storage unit.

Zack spoke but kept his voice low. "So, what exactly is going on?

"You'll find out soon enough, you're going to have a little chat with the Lieutenant." The Ranger from the right spoke this time and chuckled afterwards.

Multiple things were running through Zack's mind. He couldn't fathom what he had done to anger the NCR troops. Or perhaps the Lieutenant just wanted to thank him personally for helping patch up Calhoun yesterday. He shook this thought off though. They wouldn't have the need to attack him and drag him off for a pleasant exchange. Something was definitely up.

"Well, if I'm going to be occupied for a bit, will you at least give my belongings to that woman back there first?" Zack tried his best to sound unnerved.

"Shut up!" One of the Rangers barked. There was no more conversation as they continued onwards.

When they neared the building that had the Ranger patrolling back and forth the previous night, Zack saw the man that Kade had described as Lieutenant Green. He was dressed similar to the other Rangers, but his uniform seemed more suited towards commanding officers. It looked like he was more ready to go to a dinner party than a battlefield. He was leaning against the railing on the porch with a cigar in his right hand. He looked more menacing than he'd imagined him to be. Zack could see that Sergeant DeLeon was on the porch as well. He was on the far right side and seemed to be staring off into the sky. Green looked down to Zack with his one eye and gave a nasty grin. His gold tooth was glinting from the morning sun. The Rangers stopped pulling Zack along when they neared the stairway to the porch. They let go of him and moved outwards on each side with their rifles raised and aimed towards him. Zack placed his arms at his sides with his fists closed. He knew better than to try anything.

"Lieutenant Green I suppose? What do I owe the pleasure of being brought here?" Zack asked cautiously.

Lieutenant Green pushed up from the railing and made his way down the steps placing his cigar in his mouth. He walked in front of Zack and stood there for a moment looking him over.

After a few moments he spoke, while the cigar hung from the right side of his mouth. "Let's cut the bull[censored] alright, Zack is it?" His voice was deep and had a commanding nature to it.

Smoke from the cigar made its way towards Zack's face. His eyes stung some but he hid his discomfort. "Very well, what do you want from me?"

"It seems you caused quite the disturbance in J's last night. You had the gall to pull a firearm on a drunken bastard who only held a knife and probably couldn't wield it all to well. I got quite a few complaints from the owner and some of his customers that you also ended their entertainment. I don't like my residents and passerby's to be discontent. They tend to cause me trouble later on, or never return to spend their caps. This cannot go unpunished. So I as you, what do you think is fair?"

"Ended their entertainment did I? They were sitting around gawking and drooling at a woman who had a little bit too much to drink and was unknowingly making a fool of herself." Zack tried to keep the anger from his voice as best as he could.

"I don't care how much the skank had to drink." Green threw a punch that connected with the side of Zack's jaw. "You should have left her ass up there!"

Zack had to pause to recollect himself while rubbing the left side of his face. He could taste blood on the inside of his mouth. "She happened to be my friend of mine, and any person with a shred of decency should have done the same thing!" The anger in Zack's voice was clearly evident now.

Green scoffed and moved Zack's duster aside exposing his revolver. He pulled it from the holster. Zack could do nothing to stop him.

"Wow, very nice." Green held his revolver out in front of him looking it over while taking a few steps back. "Someone had said that the gun was something they had never seen before. I think a fair punishment would be for me to have this and for you to get the hell out of my town."

"No, please!" Zack stepped forward a bit, one of the Rangers moved quickly between him and Lieutenant. Zack halted his advance. "It means a great deal to me, I have caps you could have instead."

Green shook his head and turned his back to Zack. "No, I think this will do quite nicely. I had been looking for a new sidearm after all."

"But-" Zack's chest tightened, his eyes began to water, without his father's gun he wouldn't be able to continue on with the same fervor as before. Zack wouldn't be one to call materialistic. In this world at anytime, you could be rolled and be left with nothing but your skivvies. But, he couldn't bear to part with anything that was passed down from his parents. It was all he had left of them besides his memories. He quickly thought of his options, or of anything else he could say to persuade the Lieutenant, but nothing compelling came to mind.

Green turned back around when he neared the wooden steps. "Turner, move out of the way." The Ranger in front of Zack moved back to his previous position. Green pointed his father's gun at Zack's chest. "I was just going to drag your ass out of town. But, perhaps I should just be done with you so you won't have to worry about losing it?"

Zack stood silently, a small part of him didn't care at this point. Sergeant DeLeon moved from where he had stood on the porch and seemed to decide to finally speak his mind.

"Lieutenant Green!"

"What is it Sergeant?" The way he said it sounded like he didn't care what the Sergeant was about to say. The revolver never swayed from Zack.

"With all due respect sir, before you decide to make a mistake, this is the man that was at the entrance yesterday afternoon when the Rad Hawk attacked. He tended to Calhoun's injury quite well I might add. I'm guessing the woman that he took from the saloon last was the one that was accompanying him then as well."

"Like any of that makes a difference. I didn't ask him to help."

"Brian, I'm not asking as an enlisted soldier, I'm asking man to man. Most of the Rangers don't respect you all too much except these two goons here." DeLeon walked down the steps and stood next to the Lieutenant. "You do this, and I'm gone. With the way you act, it won't be too long till the others mutiny against you. I'm usually the one that keeps them at bay." DeLeon put his hand over Green's and eased the revolver down so it pointed to the ground by Zack's feet. "I'll escort him out of here, and I'm sure that he would be grateful to get his weapon back as well." Green stood motionlessly while DeLeon pried the gun from his hand. DeLeon then walked towoards Zack, he looked to both Rangers on either side. "Stand down guys. Come on Zack, let's go."

"Yeah, get that garbage out of my town. I don't want to see him again." Lieutenant Green said as he walked up the steps. He then entered the building and slammed the door. The two Rangers shouldered their rifles. One of them spit by DeLeon's feet as they walked onto the porch. They sat down on a bench that was to the left of the door and stared angrily towards Zack and DeLeon.

Zack turned and followed alongside DeLeon who was already leaving. He was able to breathe easier now. "Thank you for that Sergeant. I didn't really see any way out of that situation."

DeLeon shook his head with disgust. "I'm getting real fed up with that guy. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. I don't know how he got promoted to where is now. I'm sorry as well. You won't be able to come back here as long as we are stationed here."

"I don't plan on returning."

They both walked passed the bazaar. Zack had been looking around for Kade's presence since they started off, and finally found her sitting down by the entrance of the small canyon by the entrance. She had her arms wrapped around her knees with her head resting on top looking down. He stopped on the path and turned towards DeLeon. "Will you have to take me all the way out?"

"No, here is fine." DeLeon handed Zack's revolver back to him. Zack placed it back in his holster and thanked him. "If I recall correctly, you're on your way to New Vegas?"

"Yes I am."

"Well, most likely you'll pass through Hoover Dam to get to Nevada, be careful approaching it. There is a rather large detachment of NCR troops there. You don't want to be taken for a raider or slaver. Just take it slow and you'll be alright."

"Thanks. Good luck with things here. Perhaps Lieutenant Green will have a change of heart one day."

DeLeon laughed. "I don't know about that, but I'll manage. Take care of yourself." He turned and walked away.

Zack walked over to Kade and tapped her head a few times. She looked up slowly and her eyes lit up.

"Zack!" She quickly got up quickly brushing the dirt from her clothes. "I thought the worst. What was it all about?"

Zack thought best to spare her what had happened. "It was just a misunderstanding, no harm done. You ready to head out? We are starting off kind of late today, but it'll have to do."

She looked questionably at him for a moment. "Yeah, I'm ready as I'll ever be I suppose."

They both entered the small canyon to leave Cherry Cliff. Zack reached down and felt his revolver from the outside his duster. He was relived that he got it back. He looked over to Kade who had a blank stare across her face. "Everything ok?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm still embarrassed about last night is all."

"Don't be, we'll probably never see any of these people again."

"True."

"So, how are you feeling about traveling the unknown and what we'll encounter out there?"

"I admit I'm a little nervous. I have never been out more than a few days scavenging. I think we'll be alright though."

"Yep, should be fine. I might be changing our traveling time to nights though, it's what I started out on and it's usually safer."

"Alright I can manage that."

They both exited the gate to the mouth of the canyon. The sun was already above them and Zack could feel it toasting his skin. He pulled his goggles up to his eyes and placed his head wrap loosely as a hood over his head. Margret was seated at her desk, puffing on a cigarette waiting to record the information of incoming travelers. There were Rangers present on guard, but they paid no particular interest to Zack and Kade. They both walked down the dirt path towards the highway.

"A crazy thing happened while you were being escorted away by those two Rangers. I walked back to the bazaar to see if they had anything new to view and I saw a young girl who was by a booth sniffling. She was wearing filthy clothes and was very thin. I asked her what was wrong. She told me that her mother was hurt and needed some help. I asked her where she was. The young girl pulled me along to the left side where the stairs went up to the second level. She said she was lying underneath them. I went over to look when out of nowhere I was tackled to the ground. I must've had four kids on top of me. They were trying to pull my pack and side bag off while holding me down at the same time. One of them was holding a knife and looked ready to use it. Luckily I was able to kick one of them off and reach down for my laser pistol. They pretty much gave up when they saw I had it. They moved away and I was able to get up while keeping the pistol aimed at them. I told them what they did was wrong and that they'd get what was coming to them someday, but not from me. I then walked backwards away from them and decided to wait by the entrance for you. I didn't think that kids could do such a thing, horrible little monsters."

Zack was laughing when she finished. She shot him a playful angry look. "You think it was funny?"

Zack shook his head. "In a sense yes. But, I should of told you to never trust kids when their alone, it usually leads to trouble." He looked down to Kade's hip. She had made a make shift holster for her laser pistol out of leather and some stripped wire. "Very clever with that holster, was it loaded at the time?"

She looked down to it. "Yeah, it's functioning fine. I'm glad I didn't have to fire it though. Don't know if I could have the death of a child on my conscience."

"Sill, we'll get you some practice when were further away from here. Hold up for one moment." She stopped. "Turn around, I just want to make sure that everything is sitting right and won't go anywhere." He looked over her pack and sleeping pad that was attached on the side. He also lifted it to make sure the weight was balanced. "Did you put the dynamite in your side bag?"

"Yeah I did, along with my tools as well. Just the items I might have to grab quickly."

"Good thinking. So, we'll probably end this day short so we can rest and begin to travel at night."

She nodded and they both began walking down the road side by side.

I applaud you, this is the best fanfic I have read it kept me glued to your seats.You should write a book for Bethesda on Fallout, the way you write is quite remarkable. I hope to see more of this soon.

Thanks for that. It's good to know that people are enjoying it. I know it's not a fast moving story, or full of a lot of action, but I am having a blast writing it.

I apologize though, I wasn't able to get anything up last week after getting back from my vacation. Had a bunch of things to do that built up while I was gone.

My friend has been a bit busy as well, and hasn't spent any time on the other concept art. But hopefully will continue on when he has time.

Should have my next post up sometime this week.