She was quite aware how alone she was.
She didn't need to be told twice, or a third, or a fourth. Or even a fifth.
As long as she slept under the stars, they kept her company, and that was as good as she was going to get.
It didn't used to be this way. She had a pa once, and she lived in a nice old farm with her favorite hairless dog Ketchup.
She and ketchup would get up early, just so the two of them could watch the sun rise up together from the distant mountains. And then she would sling her rusty trusty hunting rifle and shoot at the geckos that got to close to their flock of Brahmin.
Then pa had to go and get himself killed.
They were passing bandits, and thought it funny to use their Brahmin as target practice. Course her old pa had to go and teach those rascals a lesson.
She waited for him at the table, dinner going cold.
He never came back.
At first, she thought he was abducted by aliens. She had seen their saucers flying around, and should would hide in the hay, rifle ready to scare them off if they decided to take their stupid Brahmins.
There was a noise outside, a gun going off. She ran to the window and pressed her face against the cold panel.
It wasn't her pa, like she hoped, like she expected so foolishly.
Another POP! and she scrambled back away from the window.
They knew she was in there.
She crawled on all fours and took a peek. They were coming. And there were too many, way too many and she ran outside the back door and fled.
When she came back the next day, they were gone and all their stupid Brahmin were dead.
When she walked into her kitchen, they had eaten last night's dinner and took all their canned food.
The only thing they left were the remains of small bones.
Oh she cried, and cried and cried, clutching those pathetic bones to her chest.
They were all she had left anyways.
Once she was done weeping, she got up and dragged a shovel outside and stopped before a small rock. She kicked it aside and shoved the shovel down on the spot and started shoveling.
Her back ached, and the sun bore down on her body indifferent to her suffering.
She hit jackpot and dropped down on her knees and started digging with her hands until she pulled out a hefty pouch that jingled as she shook it.
She left soon afterwards, a bag slung on one of her shoulder and her rusty trusty rifle hanged on the other.
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For the first year she starved and struggled to survive off of scraps thrown out in nearby towns. She would search the trash bins, and because she was so small, and it was so cold during the nights, she would sleep in them. Warm, sometimes cozy, and... she got used to the stench over time.
It was only sheer luck that she overheard two men talking about Mr. House needing a new courier out on the road. The last one met an... undecided fate.
She approached them, and asked where to sign up. They looked at her, their eyes trailing up and down and laughed at her skinny body.
"Kid you would break after a second out there." One of them said, a man dressed in black and white checkers with slicked back shiny hair.
"Try me." She said, standing her ground, staring directly into his eyes.
The man chuckled, pulled out a cigarette, and turned his back on the thin girl. She opened and closed her mouth, and she didn't know what to do. So she did the first thing that popped into her head. She turned, and took off in a sprint.
She ran, her skinny legs pumping and her feet pounding on the dirty concrete. She ran to the end of the street, skidded to a halt, took in a deep breath and ran back. She didn't dare look at the two men to see if they were watching her, she only focused on what was in front of her. When she reached the other end of the street, she jumped and slapped the street light pole.
Her lungs hurt, but she forced herself to stand up straight and turn around to see them staring at her. Without breaking eye contact, she approached them again and stopped a good feet away. She was breathing hard through her nose, but her face betrayed nothing.
After a moment of silence, the checkered suited man cracked a grin and took a drag and blew it out.
"Well, what are you standing there for kid?"
She frowned and felt silly. Why did she do that? What was she even trying to prove?
A movement caught her eye and without thinking, she grabbed a package and looked at it, then to him.
"If you survive taking this to the Mojave Outpost, then I might consider you." he said.
She stood standing there, and he raised an eyebrow. "Well?"
She blinked a few times and nodded at him. The tip of his lips twitched upward and he turned his back on her to continue talking with his friend.
Despite what he thought, she did make it back, bleeding and cut in a few places, but nonetheless alive. And he did consider her.
"That's one crappy rifle you have there." he pointed out one day while she was cleaning the gun.
She didn't look up from her task, but said "It's all I got."
He grinned, and pulled out a nine millimeter pistol. He waited till she looked up and saw the gun.
"You want this?" He asked.
She didn't answer, but only stared hard at him. He could see the gears in her head turning and he laughed. What a smart cookie.
"That's right," he said, running his fingers gently over the gun, "Nothing is free here in New Vegas." He looked at the pistol, seeing his reflection looking back at him.
"You can have my Maria when I'm dead and long gone." He paused, and shook his head chuckling.
"That is, if you outlive me kid."
"And I doubt you would."
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There was irony in those words, looking back on it now.
Waking up on the dusty desert ground, hands and feet tied she looked at the man she once considered a friend.
"You made your last delivery kid." Benny said, holding up a silver platinum chip.
"Sorry you got twisted up in this seam." He slipped the chip back into his checkered coat and pulled out Maria.
"From where you're kneeling it must seem like an 18 karat run of bad luck." He pointed the pistol straight at her.
"Truth is... " And she was staring cross-eyed at the end of sweet, sweet Maria. She looked at him, and for a second a flash of pity crossed his face but it was gone, and his eyes hardened.
"The game was rigged from the start."
When Benny pulled the trigger, she knew now that nothing was free here in the Mojave Desert, and she was paying the price.