When the young man put on the beret, Boone didn't even remember lining up the cross hairs with Jeannie May's head and taking the shot.
It felt good when he saw her burst head and motionless body from way up there. Didn't change anything, but it still felt damn good.
That was for Carla. And the baby he'd been looking forward to meet.
He cursed as he crumpled up the 'purchase agreement' that the guy had later showed him. It disgusted him to even call it that. The paper ball dropped to the floor and he sat heavily on the bar stool, head in hands. The stranger leaned against the steel wall, not saying another word. He obviously didn't know what else to say, and standing there just made him look stupid. Boone wished he'd just leave, he wanted to be alone.
But then the guy asked if he wanted to get out of town with him. He said he was heading up to the city, and that he could use someone who knew the land. And their way around a gun.
Boone kept quiet. He glanced up at the man, who was looking at his rifle on the floor.
"I thought snipers worked in teams," he said with a slight slur. He was right. Didn't want a ruptured sternum again, he was much more effective with a spotter and someone to watch their backs while he looked through the scope.
Nothing left in Novac. Hated Manny, hated the whole town for not caring about Carla and her being missing. Didn't really care what happened to it anymore, just wanted to keep the room. Had all of her things there.
No way to see the end coming if he stayed. It might not even get to him. And no way to trust this stranger yet, but that was what the gun was for.
So, he agreed. The only choice that might not make him dread going to sleep every day. Maybe they'd split up after they got to the city. Alright, the guy said. Told him to finish his shift and get some sleep, and that he'd come by his door tonight. Boone just grunted in reply and went back to sentry duty.
The man left and closed the door behind him, but not before picking up the crumpled paper from the floor. He mumbled something about putting the evidence back to where it was. Boone didn't care, none of that mattered anymore.
He later saw the guy down in front of the dinosaur again, moving Jeannie May's corpse to a new position. He kept looking up the sky and down onto the body, probably trying to estimate a bullet trajectory that didn't point to the sharpshooters up in the dinosaur. Boone huffed, he'd already told him it wasn't going to be a problem. Not sure why he would still go through the trouble.
The young man left the scene after. He only realised some time later why he hadn't bothered washing the blood and brain matter off the road when it had started pouring down with rain.
Asher, or Ash, the guy had introduced himself. Turned out they were the same age. Boone was older by a few months. For some reason he'd been very amused at that, and said that Boone didn't look his age.
He appeared to be a shy, well-mannered young man at first glance. Boone himself wasn't one who beat around the bush, and he didn't care for such displays of propriety, believing it was just a waste of time to both sides. He was surprised the Mojave hadn't yet taken someone as naive as this, this guy definitely wasn't made to be traipsing the wasteland.
The way he spoke also made him seem as if he was tired all the time, or just really relaxed. With lazy eyes and a lazy smile. Boone had often wondered if he was tripped out on chems, but never actually saw him popped any.
In their few days of traveling together Ash made attempts at conversations with him, apologizing curtly whenever Boone wasn't ready to divulge something personal.
But after a few failed tries he could see that even he was losing patience. The guy didn't bother anymore to put on a smile whenever they'd talked, and they started spending most parts of their journeys in silence. Soon enough the only person who began any conversation was Boone himself.
Much better this way, saved the both of them a heck of a lot of time and effort.
He was a drastically different person whenever they came across a scuffle, though. He swore and cursed and yelled. A lot. Boone honestly hadn't expected that from someone who'd appeared so subdued. Or maybe he'd just been putting up a front all this time.
But he wasn't a soldier, it definitely showed. Countless times, Boone snarled at his missed shots. He had to do most of the work whenever they came across raiders or wild animals. Or feral ghouls at the REPCONN site.
"What's your problem!?" Boone yelled over the battle. He usually only received frustrated noises and apologies in reply but now, Ash had started to snap right back at him. Due to that their campaigns now only ever consisted of swearing, yelling, scolding, and then deafening silence when they resumed their journey after.
They never got too close to their targets, and at that distance three out of five shots of the courier's land. But whether or not they landed on his intended target was another story.
His alertness led him to be a decent enough spotter, at least. And he didn't seem to show any qualms about killing if he had to, which although Boone considered rather surprising for a civilian, made things a whole lot simpler.
He'd asked for a session or two on spread control and precision firing. Boone reluctantly agreed, for both their sake. The courier had chuckled, said that he was unexpectedly patient as an instructor. The guy was fortunately a fast-learner, and soon enough he could land most of his hits on target. Headshot were still out of the question.
Other than that he also seemed to be rather fickle with his choice of weapons.
"Choose one and stick to it," Boone told him over a campfire one morning. "I'm sick of hauling around an arsenal. Which one?"
"I've heard about those anti-materiel rifles. Can I try one of those?"
Boone sighed, "Something you can actually carry."
Ash folded his arms, eyes glancing over their bags, "I guess I'll stick to the 10mm for now. It's versatile," he said with a thoughtful look.
"Fine. Next dealer we see, we're getting rid of the rest."
A/N - First few chapters are just for establishing the courier's character because I feel this is important. This story is about Boone, so it becomes all Boone-centric later. Sorry, I'm not very good at writing...In hindsight now I would actually change the first five chapters to something else entirely.
Anyhow, I hope readers who stick by don't get disappointed!