Blast To The Past
So you might be wondering how I got here. With a crazed pyscho/philosopher douchebag getting ready to plunge both the NCR and the Legion into miniature version of the Nuclear Holocaust, while pointing gun to my head to add to it. This situation was ten kinds of balls, and it all started three weeks ago, in a shitty bar, in a shitty run down town, and me drinking myself stupid with my friends.
Three weeks ago
I was having the time of my life. Everything was going well. I was having drinks with all my friends.
Arcade was drinking some pre-war beer, the good stuff. He had managed to find some time to get away from the clinic in Freeside, I honestly didn't know why he stuck around with the group, and you might be thinking "Oh because he's your friend" and blah blah blah, trust me hangin with us can be fatal.
Boone was there also, said he needed a break from killing Legionnaires or as he called them "Cocksucking Reds".
Raul was there, arguing with Arcade…again. I was happy for him though. Because of his new reputation in the Mojave as the "Vigilante of The West" people didn't even care he was a ghoul anymore, they would shake his hand, give him free drinks, and occasionally, ask for an autograph.
Rex was lying by the side of my feet, his tail wagging. I swear I can honestly say he was the best dog a guy could ever have, except for the fact I had to oil his metal limbs once a month. Hey! You try keeping that dog still, its fricken impossible, believe me.
ED-E was hovering around the table, making beeping noises as he went about. Most people would think having an Eyebot around would be too much of a burden; I used to think that too, until I got a taste of ED-E's gatling lasers when we first met, I had singes on my hair for weeks.
Then there was Veronica, I had only met her a couple days ago, but I already liked her. She had a spunky attitude and made jokes about every little thing, so she got along with Arcade better than anyone in the group. She was an ex Brotherhood of Steel scribe, and packed one helluva punch, thanks to her Power fist, I made the mistake of laughing at how stupid it looked on her hand the first time we met, I swear I could feel my organs rearrange themselves.
Then finally we come to Rose of Sharon Cassidy, a.k.a Cass, a.k.a my girlfriend. We had gotten together about two months ago, after our shitty vacation to my hometown and she had taken a legion bullet to the gut. She was drinking whiskey, her signature drink, and she would stop and look up at me every few minutes. Now Cass has a "look" system that she uses on everyone. If she smiles and raises her right eyebrow it means "Not bad, not bad". If she glares at you for longer than four seconds it means, "Shut the fuck up, or I'll feed you my knee". If she smirks at you and get's an evil glint in her eye it means "Oh you asked for it". And the last two are only for me. If she smirks and winks at me it means "Get in this bed, now!" and if she just gives me a regular smile it means "I love you, even though you're an idiot." And that was the look she was giving now. I swear you have no fucking idea how long it took me to figure that system out.
I took a swig of whiskey, and looked at my Pip-boy.
'7 o'clock, nights still young.' I thought to myself
I was then broken out of my thoughts when I heard my nickname
"Hey Nics, this a damn fine bar, how'd you find this place?" Veronica asked, slurring
I then laughed at why Veronica was the most drunk out of all of us. Outta every night she could've done this, Cass picked this night to give Veronica her "right of passage", she challenged her to a drinking contest, and the poor, unsuspecting girl accepted. Veronica kept up with Cass, but we had to stop the contest or Veronica probably would've died from alcohol poisoning. Nevertheless she passed.
"Found it a couple years back when I was still a courier." I finally answered
"Ahhhhh" she replied
"And Veronica." I added
"Yes?"
I quickly grabbed the beer out of her hands and quickly drank it
"I think you've had enough, you're obviously drunk." I said smirking
"Naaaaaaaaaaaaah I'm okaaaaaaaay" she said as her head hit the table, completely passed out.
"Tough chick to keep up with Rose Red over here" Arcade said
Cass twitched at the mention of her old nickname, and she punched Arcade in the arm
"Ow! What the he-"
Cass gave one of her "looks"
"Only one person here can call me that." She then turned and winked at me
Thank god I was already red from the alcohol or I'm sure they would've seen me blush.
I took another drink of whiskey, the "Devil's Nectar" leaving a small burning sensation at the back of my throat.
"Easy now Cass, we need to keep blondie in one piece if he's gonna have any luck with sleeping beauty over here." Raul said while laughing
Arcade went red as a tomato
"It's not like that old man! She's not even into guys she's gay!" He yelled defensively
"She's bisexual and you know it." Boone spoke up
"And just how do you know that?!" Arcade replied
"Because we were all spying on you guys when you "thought" you were both alone and we heard her tell you that." Cass said casually while taking a swig of whiskey.
"Goddam- what the hell is wrong with you!?"
"Oh and we also used a pre-war bug to listen in on anything we couldn't hear." I added
"Oh come on!" Arcade yelled
The next ten minutes consisted of Arcade cussing us out, but he eventually calmed down after drinking his beer again.
After another hour of joking, drinking, and laughing, I finally spoke up again
"Hey Arcade you still got that truck?" I asked
He got a glint in his eye; he loved that thing more than life, mostly because he's the only one in the wasteland with a working car.
"Hell yeah, just tuned it up. And it's waiting outside" He replied
"Aren't you worried about it getting stolen?" Boone asked
"Oh don't worry, you need the key, and the fact that I rigged it with pre-war pulse charges, if you don't turn the key the right way then it'll shock ya to death, and the best part, it wont put a single ding on my car, HA!"
"Well then lets all take a little drive, I know a good spot." I said
Everyone agreed, so we packed up all our stuff, and left some bottle caps on the table for payment.
"Hey boss, aren't you forgetting sleeping beauty over here?" Raul called
I turned to Arcade and gave him a slap on the back towards our table
"You know what to do, and don't try anything, or when she wakes up shell probably rearrange your face." I said to him
He turned red but he didn't say anything. He walked up to our table, slung Veronica's pack over his shoulder, picked her up bridal style, and carried her out the door.
Everyone got in the truck, taking their usual spots. Raul rode shotgun, while Boone sat in the back left seat, and ED-E just hovered by the truck, intending to just fly next to it as we drove, while me and Cass, and Rex rode in the back of the truck leaning against the back window. We made sure to stay away from the driver's seat cause Arcade always enforced the "finders keepers" card.
Arcade reached out and opened the back door and laid Veronica down in the back seat next to Boone, and turned her head so she wouldn't throw up on him.
"Tell me again why I had to carry her." Arcade faked complained
"Don't act like you didn't want to, and if I did it Cass would kill me." I replied
Cass then stretched out and leaned on my shoulder
"Your damn right I would" she said
Arcade turned red for the millionth time that night then got into the driver's seat, turned the key, and started driving.
"Any specific directions?" He asked
"Head southwest from here for about 25 miles" I replied
The drive was peaceful, well as peaceful as it can get in our case. Boone just smoked a cigarette, laughing at Raul and Arcades constant arguing. While Ed-E just hovered next to the car and Veronica mumbled in her drunken slumber. And Rex had fallen asleep behind Cass and me, using our backs as support.
"So Nics where are we headed?" Cass asked me
"That would be a surprise" I replied
Cass gave me her "Oh you asked for it look"
She took off her hat and set it behind us and then leaned against me and moved up to my neck and began to kiss it up and down in a pattern, then nipped where my shoulder met my neck. In the short time we've been together this woman has learned all my weaknesses, and I mean ALL of them, and this was one of my greatest ones yet.
"You know I don't like surprises Nics." She said with a smirk
I was not gong to lose this here, I was gonna keep my mouth shut no matter what she did.
"You'll like this one, I promise." I said, trying to keep my cool as she continued her nipping up my neck.
She apparently didn't like my answer, she moved her hand to my back and slid my pack off and pushed me onto my back, and kissed me down my neck, across my collarbone, back up my neck, across my jawline and then she kissed me hard, I didn't mind this so much, I thought as I let the familiar taste of honeysuckle, with a slight kick, help me relax.
I was thanking god the inside of the truck was soundproof, or else the others would be getting a personal show.
She then broke the kiss and tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear.
"Ready to talk yet?" she asked with a smirk
"Nah" I replied
"Since when did you become so strong willed?" she asked, still smirking
"I think somehow the alcohol is helping" I replied
We both laughed at this, and she gave me her "I love you, even though you're an idiot" look. She then lay down next to me and snuggled close and gave me a kiss to the cheek, then dozed off.
I looked up at the stars as we drove, and thought to myself
"This is perfect."
Little did I know though that everything would go to shit in a few short hours.