The courier dropped her satchel in the chair beside her and sighed. It was good to be back where she belonged, which is to say the fourth barstool from the right, located in the spacious and sometimes air conditioned Tops casino.
She fished a couple of caps out of the bag and pushed them across the bar. "Evening Lloyd, bottle of your finest whiskey, if you would."
The bar-keep winked and reached around for the bottle. "Sure thing doll, long as you don't mind a little radiation with your liquor"
"What, me? Never. Little radiation never hurt anybody."
Lloyd laughed and poured the golden liquid into a shot glass. "I think your pal Raul would disagree."
"He's really just one in a million. A special case."
"Sure he is."
They both laughed and the courier lifted the glass to her lips. "Cheers Lloyd."
He smiled, taking the towel from his belt and wiping down the bar. The courier rolled the shot glass between her hands and looked around. There were a few people shuffling around, staff mostly, preparing for the night shift probably. The usual crowd of belligerents were circled around their roulette table, laughing, spilling drinks, and being a headache to their dealer.
The courier chuckled and looked back at the bar. A stranger at the far end caught her eye. She pushed the shot glass to Lloyd and nodded in the stranger's direction. "Who's that? I've never seen him around before."
Lloyd finished pouring and capped the bottle, he threw the towel over his shoulder and leaned in. "That's 'cause he ain't from around here. Fella just rolled into town, won't say where he's from. Real quiet guy, don't even know his name."
They both looked down the bar, the stranger looking down into his glass. The courier slid off her barstool. "Well, I do love a challenge."
Lloyd chuckled and rolled his eyes. The courier quick-shot her glass of whiskey then slung the bag over her shoulder. "Just keep the whiskey flowing and I'll get all the information we want out of him"
"Whoa, whoa, who said anything about 'we'? You're the one with the silver tongue and the insatiable curiosity, doll. Not me, this is all you."
She smirked and began to make her way around the bar; the stranger took a drink from his glass, still staring off into the distance. The courier slid onto the barstool beside him and smiled. "Hello stranger."
The man turned his head and stared at her. His eyes widened and a look of terror spread across his face. The courier felt her resolve weakening. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
She signaled for Lloyd, and watched as he poured two shots. She sipped at hers and looked back at the stranger. "I'll make you a deal mister; I'll share this bottle with you, if you tell me who you are. We don't get many strangers out here, and you have the look of a guy whose got a story to tell"
She pushed the second glass across the space between them. "We got a deal mister?"
The stranger stared at her, then the glass. He lifted it to his lips. When he set it down on the bar, he turned to her, his blue eyes looking clear and focused,
"My name's not mister. It's Butch. Butch Deloria. And yeah, I got a story to tell."