October 11th, 2281 - Goodsprings Cemetery 2:00 AM
Avery Parker struggled against her bonds, looking to the man in the neat, groomed white-checkered suit. She tried to undo them, even in direct sight of the men. Even if she were to undo her restraints, she would face a new problem. Five men, dressed in Great Khan Armor, would have dealt with her quickly. Only in the Shady Sands Typewriter she would find men dressed like that, in a war photographers entry. Now, she was able to see with her own eyes, what these men could do.
She looked to her loose Brahmin leather jacket, and the leather pants she wore along it. Her brunette hair tied into a ponytail, scruffy and dirty from being thrown into the ground. Her light skin, scraped and grimy from her brief time in captivity, several blisters and minor cuts apparently. She seemed that at the age of 21, her life would be cut short, just for a strange looking poker chip.
She looked to the one who was digging. He was digging a grave, a shallow one as well. She thought to herself " Just for me. " Her thoughts were cut short as she heard them quarrel. One of them, looked to the man in the white-checkered suit and said gruffly,
" You got what you were looking for, now pay up. " His voice, serious, and monotonous in his speech. The voice chilled her to backbone, but unable to do anything other than wait.
" You're crying in the rain, pally. " He replied, his voice casual, his tone light-hearted. Was this a joke? Avery thought. I got ambushed by... raiders for a 250 cap package?
" Look who is waking up over here... " He said, the five men looking to Avery. She thought she was moving, but Avery realized that was sub-conscious movement. She didn't know how she was singled out, among of the many couriers out there. But that didn't matter now, because the Khan Raiders and their patron had her. The man in the white checkered suit smoked his cigarette, letting it flutter it down to the ground, before stomping it out. That will be me, helpless, at his mercy...
More of her thoughts were cut out, when he said,
" It's time to cash out. "
However, one was impatient. He wanted him to get on with it and go, stating blatantly,
" Can we just get it over with? "
The man in the white-suit held up a finger, dismissing him. He turns his head, insulting him,
" Maybe Khans don't kill people without looking them in the face, but I had to think, ya' dig? "
He pulls out what she had been tasked with protecting, transporting and delivering - that strange poker chip. She didn't know why it was so important, but she now knew it was worth her life.
She snapped back into reality when he continued to talk and say,
" You've made your last delivery, kid. Sorry you got twisted up in this seem. "
She could've of heard remorse, but all she saw and heard was the draw of that engraved pistol, so beautiful in the moonlight. She thought, How could something so beautiful end me... All she could do was just wait, and hope it was quick.
" From where you're kneeling all this seems like 18k run of bad luck... " he rambled, as he took aim at Avery's forehead. This is how it ends... She kneeled, helplessly, as she heard the final words before the big boom.
" Truth is... the game was rigged from the start. " he'd end, before she saw a white flash and a black void for what seemed like an eternity...
Am I dead? Am I alive? What is this? What happened? Where... what is going on? I … I don't have it! Why can't I feel air? Why is the ground so cold? Where are they? What is this?
Her mind pondered, even when there was a 9mm gunshot wound in her head. She thought of her brother, her little sister, and her mother and father. Although she couldn't remember them, they all seemed like they were a blank, a void in her memory. She tried to remember why she was here, but couldn't. She didn't know anything. She thought it was the end. But she didn't know that.