A small black crow was high in the sky, cawing and flying in a large circle overhead. Down below, a single woman was watching this bird, envying its freedom. How nice it would be, to be as free as a bird. No one could touch you from way up there. No one could hurt it, capture you, and enslave you, not from way up there.

She continued to look up at the bird, a tear slowly falling from her left eye, streaming down her cheek. She then winced in pain as her head was pulled down hard. A man then moved his mouth close to her ear.

"We'll have none of that," he ordered with a voice that was so cruel and cold. "All you have to do is stand there, look pretty and not shed a tear."

His hand was still wrapped around a chain that was attached to her explosive collar. It was very constricting and uncomfortable; it even hurt to swallow now, after she had worn it for so long. But she nodded none-the-less; there was nothing else she could do, not in this situation. No, in this situation, she was helpless.

"Alright… I'll do as you say…" Carla Boone said softly. She then nodded her head once more.

After she wiped away her tears and sniffled, the Legion soldier dressed in crimson red, nodded his head back and let go of her chain and she went back to her standing tall position. The soldier then walked back to the center of the stage. He quickly took up his position, on the left flank of his Centurion commander. It wasn't until now that Carla noticed the sheer magnitude of the crowd that was gathered together, below the stage. It was a sea of crimson red. Hundreds of legion soldiers, all were cheering, whooping, and whistling.

There was an auction of 'items' going on that day. All of these items were gathered from all corners of the Mojave wasteland. Some of them were sold to the Legion for profit; others were captured during village raids. Sadly, there were even some who were wandering the wasteland alone and were in the wrong place, at the wrong time when the Legion soldiers, who were on patrol had captured them. They were women, human beings, being sold to the highest bidder that day. But to a Legion soldier, they were little more than items to be bought, used and disposed of soon after. Others might be used as nothing more than a toy to some or a slave to others, either way; they weren't thought to be equal to anyone who bought them.

The line was getting shorter. Still, Carla had no idea how long she had been standing on stage for. All she knew was that where there were once many girls in front of her, there were now only three ahead of her. All were trembling, crying, or even praying for salvation. It wouldn't be long now, before it was her turn. This, she dreaded, because she was much different than the other girls. Her beauty could not be compared to the thin female slaves from other legion camps, brought in for the auction. The wasteland daughters, in their rags and with their long, dirty hair and frail bodies. No, Carla was from 'The Strip'. A place where she was able to take care of her looks, just as well as her body. Clean water, lots of food and caps. No need to scrounge through the debris of the old world in search of food or water like the other poor girls. No need to walk for days in search of water, weeks in search of food, letting your body and figure wither away in the long, never ending search.

Now, from her position, Carla could see the third girl ahead of her on stage. She was a wasteland girl in her early 20's and she had just been bought. Now began the worst part, the 'passing' of her body from the stage, all the way through the crowd to her new owner. She was then tossed off stage by two muscular Legion Centurion Officers and landed into the eagerly awaiting hands of the soldiers below the stage. Then, just as Carla had seen before, she was being carried through the crowd, handed overhead from one soldier to the other, towards her new owner. All the way, she was being groped, licked and violated. The rags of clothes that she was wearing were being torn from her body along the way, the poor girl was crying and screaming in terror the whole way.

"Oh god… I don't want that to be me… please…" Carla prayed with her hands together.

"Come on! Move!" a Veteran Legion soldier ordered, pressing the rear of his spear into the backs of the girls behind Carla. She and the other girls were then moved on down along the line. Now, there were only two girls in front of Carla, one of them was being roughly taken up on stage next.

Carla began to breathe in and out slowly, attempting to calm herself. Soon, it would be her turn. There was no escape; there was nothing that she could do. She didn't dare think of what fate awaited her, but for someone of her beauty, it was something to worry about more than the other girls.

Knowing that her final fate would be decided in a matter of minutes, Carla raised her head and scanned the skies, searching for the crow that she had seen from before. She had hoped to admire it for just a little while longer, envying its freedom, wish she could be as free as it was, as free as a bird.

She found it once again, only this time it was descending from the sky, towards a small mountain in the distance. It landed on the mountain side and cawed loudly. Carla smiled as she looked on at the bird, then, it took to the skies, cawing and rapidly flapping its wings… something had spooked it. Before Carla could follow the bird with her eyes, something else caught her eye. It was a distant and sudden glint of something shiny, directly within the vicinity of where the crow had just landed. As Carla kept her eyes trained on the spot that she had seen the original glint come from, she saw yet another glint. She had seen this before and knew that it had to have been from a circular glass shaped object… either a sniper rifle scope or a pair of binoculars.

Another smile spread across her face, tears forming in her eyes. She slowly opened her mouth and mouthed one word silently, "…Boone…?"

Two more quick glints, one after the other confirmed that thought.

Carla closed her eyes and lowered her head, breathing a sigh of relief. At the same time thinking, "I knew you'd find me… it's just like the day we first met…"

Carla was running through the streets, a ways outside of the 'Freeside' gates, hot on her tail were two fiends, laughing and clawing at her ripped skirt that flapped behind her running figure.

"Come on Baby! No use running!" one of the fiends laughed.

"We know these streets like the back of our hands! You're running towards a dead end!"

Carla gasped as she rounded a corner and did indeed come to a dead end. Piled high were enormous blocks of concrete, run down old buildings and junk cars. Carla turned and began backing up, holding her skirt and shirt together as best she could. Now, slowly coming around the corner were the two fiends, they had to have been high on chems or drugs. They were laughing, barking like dogs and howling like wolves as they slowly walked towards her.

The back of Carla's foot caught a large rock and she fell onto her butt, desperately crawling backwards to get away from these two attackers. Now they were both rubbing their hands and licking their lips in anticipation.

"No girl from the strip this pretty has ever come this far into our territory before!"

"Yeah! Never one this clean either! Make-up and everything!"

Now, Carla's back hit a large, concrete block, she could go no further. As the two fiends got closer to her, something behind them caught Carla's eye. Something in a third story window of a building far behind them. The sun had managed to capture a glint of something shiny, though from what, Carla had no idea.

To her surprise, the two high as kites Fiends were playing rock, paper, and scissors to see who would go first. Carla's eyes then moved back to the window, and the glint was still there, the sun still caught it as it moved about.

"Ha! I get to go first!" shouted one of the fiends, bringing Carla's attention back to them.

He then began to undo his belt, just as the other one groaned, "Ahh… ok, but make it quick!"

He had almost gotten his belt undone and stated, "Hehe… I'm gonna enjoy thi-" a hole then appeared in his chest, followed by an extremely loud and echoing 'Kabang!' sound. The fiend cried out in pain, then hit the ground face first. There were two holes in his body, one in his back, the other through his chest, both caused by one large calibre sniper round.

The other fiend, panicked, turned around and reached for his pistol in his belt and only had time to shout, "What the F-", before he was also shot dead. This time, right through the center of the skull, shattering it like a melon. Small bits and pieces of his skull were sprayed in all direction. Carla screamed at the top of her lungs and fell back, fainting from the gruesome sight and shock of the whole ordeal.

Sometime later, Carla began to slowly regain consciousness. Her body felt extremely light, almost as if she was floating. The front of her body felt warm and cozy.

"Mmm… so warm…" Carla moaned softly.

"Yo! She's starting to wake up!" a voice said.

This was cause for concern, because the last time Carla had heard voices, they were from the fiends that lived in the area she had been walking. Knowing this, Carla began to cry out in fear and as she looked down, she saw that she was being carried. Her legs were being held by someone, she was on top of someone else's back and she was trying to push herself away from him and pounding her balled up fists against his back…

"I'd cut that out if I were you…" a deep, slow voice said. The voice of the man carrying her

"Easy girl, you're safe now." another mans voice said. Carla looked over and saw a darker skinned man, carrying two hunting rifles, one slung over each shoulder. His shirt was red, over his shirt was a black leather vest and on his head was a red beret.

Carla was too shocked to say anything, now she looked down at the man who was carrying her on his back. He was Caucasian and was wearing a tan t-shirt and also had a red beret on. Carla couldn't see his face, as he never bothered turning to look back at her the entire time.

"Almost there…" the man carrying her said. Carla then looked up and over his shoulder and saw the familiar sight of the North Vegas strips gates coming into view, guarded by the 'Securitron' robots. They were far from where Carla had ventured off to; this man must have carried her the whole way.

Carla fell forward, against his muscular back, resting her cheek against his shoulder. Not sure what else to say, she whispered, "Thank you…"

The man responded only with a grunt. Carla was then set down in front of the gates, now she was able to get a clear view of her Saviour. He was tall, muscular and far more handsome of a man than Carla had seen in a very long time. The sun was setting and this man still wore a pair of sunglasses, even in the disappearing daylight hours.

"Thank you… thank you for saving me…" Carla said, her cheeks rosy red from blushing. "I never got your names; I must know the names of my saviours!"

The darker skinned man smiled and said, "Manny Vargas."

The man in sunglasses stood up straight and saluted her, saying, "Craig Boone, 1st battalion sniper unit!"

Manny rolled his eyes, "Come on Boone, I could use a drink after all that walking and slaying of those fiends."

Boone nodded and grunted, following right behind Manny as he entered the gates. Carla was nervously rubbing her hands together; she then turned and ran after the two snipers who had saved her.

"Hey! Wait!" she cried, passing them and stopping in front of them, though she stood directly in front of Boone. She smiled gratefully and asked, "Do you two have a place to stay while at the strip?"

"Not yet…" Boone said his face plain and emotionless.

"We've just arrived," Manny said. "We've been given leave from the base and were hoping to have some good down time while we're here."

"Well I know my way around here quite well, and I know many of the bar and hotel owners here! Please! Let me really make it up to you for saving me! I can get you a free room and you can drink all you want where I work!"

The entire time she was looking up at Boone, not Manny. Boone looked over at Manny, he smiled and nodded.

"Very well, show us the way." said Boone.

Carla then led the two men towards the main strip, Carla walking next to Boone the entire time while Manny trailed in the back. The walk was silent for the most part, until Boone asked, "What were you doing out there? Where we found you?"

Carla blushed, "I heard there was a large storage of alcohol in the fiends territory. It was inside of a building the fiends hadn't laid claim to, nor anyone else just yet. Hoping I'd get a raise and better working and living conditions from my boss, I set out to find this booze store on my own. I knew he'd be extremely impressed if I found it on my own, without him having to pay for an armed escort to take me there... it didn't turn out too well."

Then, Carla could have sworn that she saw Boone's lips curve slightly upward in an amused smile.

From that moment on, Carla was inseparable from Boone. The two went everywhere and did everything together as a couple during Boone's leave from the base, much to Manny's disappointment. No 'Bro time' between the two since they had rescued Carla. Whether they were walking around 'The Strip' or at the bars or even catching a show, Carla tagged along. Their 'relationship even continued after Boone and Manny went back to Base, then to 'The Front' on active duty. They kept in contact through letters while Boone was away with his 1st recon sniper unit.

"All those memories… such good times… with you, Boone, My love…" Carla mouthed the words rather than speak them out loud or think them in her head, because she knew that Boone could read lips and know what she was saying, even from over a mile away.

Meanwhile, far away, on the mountain side, Boone lay in a prone position, sniper rifle against his shoulder and eye up to the scope. "Yeah… I know…" Boone said aloud. A dead legion scout with his snapped neck lay next to him. The lookout scout was paying way to much attention to the girls on stage with his binoculars and not focused on where he was assigned to watch. This mistake cost him his life, as a very angry Boone was able to sneak up on him and snap his neck like a twig.

Carla then looked to the front of the line; the young wasteland girls' bids were low. A measly 50 Denarius from a young, new recruit Legionnaire soldier, desperate to get his hands on a female of any kind.

"I have 50 Denarius! 50! Are there any other bids? Let me hear 100, 150!" The announcer called out.

"For that frail, sickly looking thing? No way in hell!" A soldier yelled out. The laughter of hundreds of Legion soldiers rang out all together and continued as Carla looked on.

"Boone… you know what you have to do…" Carla mouthed slow and softly.

Up on the ridge, Boone pulled his eye away from the scope, "What I have to do?" he asked aloud. He then moved his eye back up to the scope.

"…Kill me…" Carla mouthed, pleading with her glistening eyes that Boone was able to clearly see.

Boone pulled his eye away from the scope, mouth a gap in horror. He shook his head and said "Kill you… No… I can't!"

At the same time, "Sold for 50 Denarius!" the announcer said, pounding the top of his metal podium with the back of a hatchet. The two muscular Centurions picked the girl up and tossed her into the eagerly awaiting hands of the crowd of soldiers. She was then passed, kicking, screaming and crying all the way through the crowd and towards her new owner.

Carla began to breathe quicker, almost hyperventilating as the final girl ahead of her was dragged up on stage. She was even more skinny and frail than the other girl, a female fiend, her face and body definitely showed the massive amounts of drugs, stems and chems that she must have used throughout the years. Her hair was a wild Mohawk of hair, purple in color and she had many piercing. Carla was afraid that this girl would give her even less time to convince Boone to do the honourable and humane thing and end her life for her, before she was sold as well.

"Please Boone… End it… Don't let me be sold and taken away…" Carla pleaded silently.

A Legion soldier next to her happened to notice the beautiful girl next to him mouthing words. Thankfully, he mistook this for something else and hadn't caught on.

"Too late for prayer, pretty lady!" he taunted. "No one's gonna save you now!"

He then laughed out loud and Carla looked to the center of the stage. Legion soldiers were booing, throwing bottles, rocks and whatever they could find at the current girl up for bids. It was very clear that no one wanted her, not a female who's hit the drugs too hard.

"Are there no bids? She can cook for you! Clean for you! Surely she's not all that useless is she?" The announcer said over the loudspeakers. "No? Alright, going once… twice… no bid! Dispose of her!"

The crowds then broke into deafening cheers as the two muscular Centurions lifted her above their heads, kicking and screaming as they carried her to the edge of a small Cliff. The fall was not enough to kill her, but they weren't throwing her off with that intent in mind. One threw her over the side, screaming. The other pushed the large round button of a detonator and an explosion went off at the bottom of the cliff. This was followed by joyous cheering from the Legion soldiers, clapping, whistling and jumping up and down.

Carla began to shake and tremble, she had seen this before. The girls were either sold to soldiers or officers, or if they were fit enough, were kept as personal slaves to the auctioneers. But, if they were too sick, too frail or junkies that weren't purchased… they were tossed off the side of a cliff and their explosive collars were detonated, much to the delight of the Legionnaires that were all gathered in front of the stage.

Carla's eyes looked back up to the distant cliffs, where she knew that Boone was positioned. "I'm next Boone… if you don't kill me now, then I'll be sold and tossed into the crowd, then it will be too late!" Carla mouthed silently, but quickly.

Up on the ridge, a sweat was starting to break on Boone's forehead. His heart was beating rapidly as he read Carla's lips, read her desperate plea. Large beads of sweat were running down his face and over his sunglasses. Even the rifle was shaking in his hands, his aim extremely unsteady as he continued to look down at Carla, his lover and wife.

"Next!" the auctioneer called out.

The Centurions then returned and took Carla by the arms and dragged her onto the stage. The sheer amount of cheers from the crowds was enough to let Carla know that she was one of the girls that everyone was waiting for. A girl like Carla, who kept very good care of herself, and looked after her figure, her looks and her hair and make-up as well. There were wolf whistles, whooping from soldiers and many sexual, lewd and crude comments being made towards her.

Carla wrapped her arms around herself and shivered as she looked down into the eyes of the hundreds of drooling soldiers and officers of all ranks of Caesars army.

"Bidding starts at 100 Denarius!" The announcer called out.

"I've got 100 here!" a young recruit shouted.

"150 over here!" another one added.

"200!"

"500 Denarius!"

The bids were fast, the bids were furious and Carla knew they would continue on for someone like her. Even so, she was running out of time. Once the bidding had stopped, she would be tossed into the crowd and Boone's clear shot would be gone forever. She knew that this was his only chance; he'd never find her once she was in the main encampment and with her new owner, not in that massive fortress.

Carla rubbed her tummy, "Boone… do it… for my sake, for our child's sake, do it." Carla pleaded silently, tears now running down her cheeks. This had the opposite effect it would have on most, the Legion soldiers were even more worked up and cheering even louder.

"One shot… two kills… please…"

Boone moved his eye away from the scope and looked down at the stage with his bare eyes, "One shot… two kills?"

By this time, the bidding had moved on from mere foot soldier bidding wars, to the officers of the armies bidding wars. Their bids were in the very high amounts of silver Denarius class and were sure to work their way up to the highly valued 'Aureus' gold coins.

Carla's heart was beating furiously, her body shook greatly as well. There were only two officers bidding now and she didn't like the looks of either of them, both were Centurions. Her gaze then turned back to where she had last seen Boone.

"Boone… Shoot… I beg of you…" Carla pleaded.

At the same time, "Wow… 20 Aureus…" the announcer said, wiping his forehead with a rag. "Are there any other bids?"

The battle between the two Centurions was over, the other didn't bid anymore.

"No more bids? Alright, 20 Aureus going once! 20 Aureus going twice!"

*KABANG!*

A sudden gunshot echoed across the canyon walls and Carla felt an extreme burning and piercing sensation strike her directly in the chest. Her eyes opened wide as saucers, her mouth open as she gasped in some air after the bullet had struck her. The next thing she knew, she was on her back, strangely enough, she felt no pain, and by some stroke of luck, her eyes were looking up at the same crow she had seen earlier, still circling high over head. Her body felt extremely light now, so light she felt that if she tried, she could fly up to where the crow was and be as free as it was very soon.

She turned her head to the side while still on her back and looked over. All around her, Legion soldiers were scrambling all over the place. She could see all of their mouths moving, they were shouting and cursing many things, but she could not hear a single, audible word from them. The only thing she could hear was her own, slow beating heart, each beat was slowly growing further from the last. She was dying.

Knowing she only had seconds left, she turned her head even more and looked up to where she had last seen Boone and silently mouthed one last message. "Thank you Boone… Now… run… my… love…" She smiled one last time, a tear running down the side of her eye as she closed them in perfect sync with her last and final heartbeat.

Up on the ridge, Boone didn't care about all of the chaos that was going on down below. The entire time he kept his scope on his wife, Carla Boone. At first he was horrified that her death was not instantaneous like he had hoped for. Then, being able to see her smile gratefully at him one last time and even have the strength left to say 'Thank you' made him take back that regret.

He thought about just remaining there, up on the ridge, until he was either captured or died under the blazing hot sun from dehydration. Then, he remembered the other part of her last message, "Run." he remember seeing her say and he did just that. He quickly got up from his sniping position, turned and ran for all he was worth. "Run farther! Run farther!" his wife's voice seemed to say in his mind as he ran as fast as he could.

He ran until his lungs seemed ready to burst and until his legs felt like rubber. How long had he been running for? How many minutes, hours or miles had he run? That he did not know, nor did he care.

He ran for some distance more, then collapsed to his knees and panted heavily, sweat dripping off his face as quickly as if someone had thrown a bucket of water in his face. He ripped off his sunglasses and held a trembling hand to his face. That was when everything had hit him.

"Carla… CARLA!" Boone cried. He then threw his head back, releasing a long and angry scream of anguish and pain that echoed across the wasteland…

My 1st one-hit Fallout story. I do not know if something like this has been done. But I always have a thing for continuing on with bits of story I heard in video games. Boones story was sad and touching, but very brief. I decided to expand on it, again I don't know if someone's already done something like this. But this is my take on his back story, what did you think? Good? Bad? Please Read and leave a review :)

Maybe one day I'll write a full Fallout story, start to finish, but for now, enjoy this one-hit story :).