The Courier stood in front of me, awkward and confused, but so willing to help. She went by "Addie". Such a fitting name for a childish girl. She couldn't be more than twenty years of age. She can't even legally drink, yet she was so much more than delivery girl with a hole in her head.

She had the same fire in her eyes that I last saw of the Mojave. The fire that burned my sin to my flesh and forced me to bare my back to humanity.

Her hair was the color of red wine. Her eyes were green and, from what I could see from my seat, had flecks of amber. Her skin was the shade of freshly cut oak.

"Do you need me to do anything for the tribe?"

"I must, I expected another 'Courier Six'. We do indeed help here. We have trouble with the White Legs. Their main focus is to drive out the Dead Horses and destroy the land. They live only to destroy." I picked up a .45 and started to disassemble it.

"I can help with that."

"It's a nice change from the desolate land and cruel actions of humanity."

She shifted her weight onto her other leg and looked at nothing in particular. She was clearly nervous.

"Are you the 'Burned Man' the Legion doesn't talk about much?"

"I am." I put the .45 in a stack next to me and picked another.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you survive?"

"Informing others about what happened is only a continuance of my eternal punishment. I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me. I fell down into that dark chasm, but the flame burned on and on."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can get for you?"

"I can't accept your pity. But I can accept your offer for help though. We need these items in order to continue defending our home." I put the .45 down and started to disassemble the closest one.

"No problem. I'll get it as soon as possible."

"Your willingness is a pleasant surprise. I am honored to have you with us."

She looked around the room. She was avoiding eye contact. From the lighting, I could barely tell a faint blush on her cheeks.

"It's really nothing. I should go."

"Be safe, Courier. The fate of the Dead Horses may very well rest upon your shoulders from now on."

"Thanks for the pressure, sir." She turned around to leave.

"Call me by my name from now on. You make me feel old." I laughed at the thought of a young girl calling me 'sir.'

"Well, what is your real name then?"

"Joshua."

"I'm Addie."

"I know. The scouts told me your name."

"Are you just going to have your spies follow me from now on?"

"Why not? You're a valuable asset and you're still young. You barely know what it's like to live."

She stared at me blankly. "I crawled out of my own unmarked grave. I think I know what it's like to live."

"That's not living. That's surviving to appreciate the life you carelessly threw around and allowed to get shot up."

"What?" Anger flashed in eyes for a quick moment. "I definitely wanted to get shot in the head. Do you think that's what I wanted? I don't even know my own name. I don't know my age. Where I'm from. And I don't know where my family is. I can't even remember what my own daughter looks like."

Tears were welling in her eyes. She must be older than she looks, or she had a run of misfortune to be stuck with a child at her age. With her obvious bad luck, it was likely the latter.

"I didn't mean to offend. It was foolish of me to say that. I need my scouts to look after you." How idiotic could I be? I made her cry in just one sentence. When did I get so terrible with women?

She wiped her face and looked up with puffy eyes. "Don't bring it up. I just want to go home."

"I may provide that, but only with your help. You can't leave the way you came. The passage collapsed and the only other exit is heavily blocked with White Legs."

"God dammit."

I glared at her. She backpedaled into oblivion. "Don't use my Lord's name in vain."

"I apologize. It won't happen again. I swear to..."

"Swear to what? You don't swear on the Lord either."

"...I swear on my life."

"That's not very reliable, my child."

"I'll make a deal with you, Joshua. I'll stop swearing and using God's name in vain if you stop bringing up my life."

"Acceptable. You must leave soon. We need those supplies."

"Alright. I'll leave, You seem really thrilled to get rid of me."

"I can't tell if you're teasing or not, but we really shouldn't be joking around with a subject like this."

"I sort of was. I'll go now."

"Goodbye." I turned back to my desk and picked up another .45.

"Ave."

I dropped the pistol. "What did you just say?"

"It slipped. I'm just used to saying it back home."

"You're Legion? You are in pure lands. Was your original plan to take the Dead Horses?" My hands were shaking.

"The Legion won the war. I have no choice. And no, I actually came here to get away from them. I'm a 'war criminal'. They want my fucking head."

"Look my in the eyes when you say that."

"I'm running away from the Legion. They want me dead. And do you really believe that they would allow a woman to be the one to conquer a tribe?"

"Humans are unpredictable. Women, they're the crazy unpredictable. Men, they're the deadly unpredictable."

"Nice to know that you still keep the Legion's views on women. Did they drill that into your head like 'Mars'?"

"I am nothing like the Legion anymore. As for Mars, people believe in what they can relate to. The Legion views themselves as gods trying to purify the lands around them. I only teach my religion to those willing to learn. I don't force my beliefs on those with ears deaf to Christianity."

"Well, Mr. Mormon, teach me."

"You don't truly want to learn. You only wish to prove a point. It's childish and disrespectful. Children should listen and obey."

"But I thought man only obeys to the Lord."

"The Lord is the highest authority figure, he doesn't instruct his children to do what he wants them to."

"Why not? Does he think it's too hard?" I could handle her words of the past, but mocking my religion was too far. My body seemed to move on its own accord. I realized too late what I had done. I had struck her.

She stood her ground and moved her head to give me the look of true hatred that only a woman can truly accomplish. "Did you just fucking hit me?"

I stumbled on my own words. I couldn't bring myself to look her in face. The last thing I saw was a red welt fully covering the area between her eye and jaw.

"If you think that I'm fucking helping you now, you can just go fuck yourself." She turned on her heal and stomped off.

What the hell have I done?