Implied Odds
It was like having a beehive stuck in her skull, buzzing, scratching and humming so low nothing she could do would change the lack of comfort she was in. Six woke up like this sometimes, in the middle of the night, with the feeling that the scar she now bore on her face was reopening. The weight of the injury truly was the last thing she needed after having to spend a night in an old, windy shack in the cold nights of the Mojave.
"I'm going to fucking kill him," she sighed, putting both her hands over her face. "And burn his ridiculous checkered vest."
Her nightly mumbling grasped the attention of the man who had been accompanying her since Novac, Boone, who simply turned slightly on the chair he was on to glance at her. He observed her silently at first, his sniper still firmly held in hand since he was the one keeping guard so Six could catch some shut eye.
"You said you'd sleep," he simply said as he turned to gaze back at the Mojave. "The faster you're rested, the faster I too can get some sleep,"
Six cracked her fingers open to glare at the man, the irritation from her injury making it nearly impossible to rest.
"Don't give me that look," Boone said after he took another glance at her. "Tomorrow we're reaching Freeside, you can stop by the Old Fort to see your friend Arcade and the followers. Maybe they've got something there that'll dull the pain."
With a deep sigh, the woman closed her eyes again, letting her hands slid off her face and lay on her side.
"Fine," she said. "I'll try harder."
"Well, that was the best I could do for the pain," Arcade suppressed a sigh as he gave Six a glass of purified water. " The headaches aren't likely to disappear, you'll just need to stay hydrated and avoid anything to trigger your migraines like, walking under the sun for entire days. Without much rest and food and water," he said that, giving her a disapproving look. "I say that because I know you've been going around chasing caps at every corner of the map in a very short amount of time. I'm no doctor but as any human with minimal intelligence would know, this was not the best way to heal your still very recent wound."
"Oh well, I needed to work," Six said irritably before chugging down the glass of water. "I need to get on that Strip and into the Tops Casino to get both a satisfying vendetta and my stolen shipment. Every minute I spend slacking off is a minute I lose laughing at his stupid corpse at my feet."
Arcarde blinked.
"I'm glad to see your travels have turned you away from the barbaric ways of the Wasteland." he scoffed.
"Come on, Arcade, this guy's a prick." Six added. "He's the guy who literally shot the messenger."
Shrugging off her comment, Arcade turned away from her to store what little medical supplies he had taken out to check on her, putting it away under an empty bed in the tent they were both standing in. As he did so, a few heads turned to look at the large wooden door that had announced with a loud noise, the arrival of a new person.
Craning her neck out of the tent, Six smiled at the man that had entered, Boone, who was coming back from a little supply run in Freeside. As stoic as ever, the man made his way towards her, his glasses sending a blinding flash of light right in her direction.
"Hey, you," she threw a wink at him, "Looking swell with all that equipment, got anything for me?"
"You didn't give me any caps so, no." he simply answered, dropping the bag of new supplies at his feet. "Hey Arcade, did you fix her?"
"There's nothing more to fix," Arcade said, greeting the man with a casual handshake. "She needs rest and water and rest again. I heard you two went out and about, turning over every rock in the Mojave for caps to get inside The Strip?"
"We did," Six sighed, tired of being reprimanded. "We did and now we've got the cashflow to get in there, get my stolen shipment, kick Benny in the face and walk out."
"About that," Boone said, moving next to her to sit beside her on the bed. "This might be a little harder than your well thought plan. Oh, by the way, I got you this."
After bending over for a quick look inside the bag of supplies he had just brought, Boone got out two kebabs of Bramhin meat and gave them to her.
"Awe, you said you hadn't brought me anything," Six said as she took the food, endearment in her tone. "You lied to me so it would be a better surprise, you're precious."
Boone shrugged off the comment, a slight blush now appearing right under the line of his glasses.
"Yeah, you need to eat, Arcade just said so," he said briskly. "So as I was saying, things might get a little trickier than you anticipated. Word on the street is Benny knows you're back from the grave. Him and his goons might be ready for you when you get there so we better keep a low profile."
"Which you have not done splendidly so far, I might add." Arcade noted.
"Ah fuck, you're joking, right?" Six said with her mouth full, her playfulness now giving place to utter disappointment. "I'm good and Boone's good but we can't just tackle a gun fight in the middle of the Strip, that's just too much noise. How do I get to him now?"
They all fell silent for a instant except for Six that was now chewing her meat angrily and loudly.
"There is a person who can probably get to him but I doubt she'd help if she knows you want to kill him." Arcade said after a while. "She use to run with the Chairmen a long time ago and she's known to still be able to walk in and out of the Tops at will. She often deals with Benny and has no trouble doing so."
"Who is she?" Boone said with interest.
"She leads a tribe of pacific settlers south from here, the followers deals with them a lot and we are on great terms. People call them the Valkyries since the tribe contains more capable women than men but I don't think that they call themselves that, they like to keep a low profile. The leader's name is Rhexa, I can probably introduce you but like I said earlier, I don't think she'll help take him out so you'll need to keep that info to yourself."
"Why?" asked Six, seemingly unable to picture someone who wouldn't want Benny dead.
"Well, these are rumors…" Arcade said with and unsure shrug. "But apparently, they're still married."
"What the fuck..." was all that Boone muttered as Six stared up at Arcade, confusion now shaping her face as a piece of Brahmin meat slowly rolled out of her mouth.