The wasteland was far more punishing than Benny remembered. Before House had invited the Boot Riders to the Strip, he would have had no issues; he was fit, then, and about eight years younger. Since then, he'd gotten spoiled. The Strip had plenty of food, nice beds, running water. He'd had bodyguards, for fuck's sake; life was easy. It was boring, too, but god, did he missed the luxuries.
Vera - no, Nevara had been quiet since sneaking him out of Freeside. He'd initially grilled her about who she was, where she came from, and why she'd come to Vegas, but the woman had snapped at him and threatened to rescind her offer to help him if he didn't shut up.
So he did.
He'd been fuming since then, furious that she not only lied to him, but now refused to come clean about it - as if those things weren't something he'd do himself. Truthfully, he probably could've made it out of the area on his own; he'd just panicked when he heard he'd been caught, and Swank turned on him - all thanks to that damn courier - so he'd gone to one of the few people he knew would help. And she turned out to be almost as much of a snake as he was.
That's what he got for trusting someone.
The sun was rising, and everything in sight was cast in a magnificent shade of orange as he and Nevara neared Goodsprings. His feet and back ached from being on his feet so long, and he wished he was younger, or that he'd stayed in better shape. He let out a sigh and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Nevara, where do you want to stop?"
She slowed her pace for a few moments - which was a relief, considering that she'd been hauling ass since leaving Freeside. He'd had no idea she could move that quickly, but it made it clear that she'd stayed in shape while running her bar - and he was jealous. He thought he'd take House out and take over the Strip, not that he'd be forced to go on the run.
After a moment, Nevara nodded toward a bluff with a little alcove off the ground. "That looks like a good spot."
"We're almost to Goodsprings," he said. "Let's just keep going 'til we get town."
She made note that he wasn't calling her baby, and she knew it was because he was angry. "Benny," she began, "we can't. You stick out like a sore thumb. If we go into town, especially this close to Vegas, we'll have people on our tail by this afternoon. Besides, after the mess with the Courier you told me about, do you really wanna risk it?"
She didn't blame him for being mad, not entirely; she knew she'd be wary if she were in his position, and she knew that he'd probably do something similar to her in the future; it was just the kind of person Benny was. She'd heard enough about him in Vegas to know not to trust him, and that if she let herself get into a position to rely on him, she'd get hurt. Maybe even killed. For now, though, she knew he had a use for her; she'd be fine for a bit.
Benny sighed. He didn't like it, but he knew she was right, so he followed her beeline toward the alcove. It'd be hard for anyone to see them from the ground, even harder to attack without alerting them, and unless something flew in, they'd probably be safe. Uncomfortable, but safe nonetheless.
Nevara adjusted one of the rifles on her back and scanned the wall for footholds, but upon finding none she turned to Benny. "I'll help you up, and then you pull me up behind you? There's no way I'm gonna be able to pull you up if I go first."
He scowled when she turned to face her - still dissatisfied with her lack of explanation - but gave a nod. She clasped her hands together for him to step in, and he did, then climbed up onto her shoulders to reach the ledge and pulled himself up.
He didn't turn back to help her though.
After a few moments, she spoke up. "Benny, you gonna give me a hand here?"
"I dunno, Nevara," he practically spat the name, "are you gonna tell me who the hell you are?"
He heard her huff. "Not if you don't help, I'm not."
Benny was half tempted to just leave her. But he needed a second gun, at least for now; Fortification Hill was infested with Legion soldiers, and there was no way he'd get through on his own. Besides that, just surviving would be more difficult given how out of shape he'd gotten. So, he let out a loud sigh - to make it seem like a hassle - and extended his hand. She, of course, hopped up and grabbed it with no issues.
A gunshot rang out, and not a second later, he heard Nevara yelp. He almost dropped her; after all, his first instinct was to take cover and get to a weapon. Instead, he quickly - and roughly - hauled her up the rest of the way.
As she hit the ground, he dove for a rifle she'd given him before they left Freeside and quickly laid on his stomach to look down the scope. He didn't care where she'd been shot, not while the threat was still out there. If she'd been hit somewhere like the chest, she'd be dead soon anyways and there wasn't anything he could do besides kill whoever was after them. Stimpaks couldn't take care of something serious like that, not without the help of actual medical care.
Fortunately, she laid next to him with a rifle of her own and stared down her scope, and for a moment, he was relieved; if she could shoot, then she probably wasn't dying. After a second, she whispered, "Raiders, two o'clock."
Benny aimed at the one with the rifle first. He was the sniper, it seemed, and he couldn't figure out why the group had him shoot. Maybe they figured he'd kill Nevara in one shot, then him, and then they could take everything they'd been carrying. Once the sniper was taken care of, he turned to the raider with the biggest weapon, which looked like a missile launcher - which would be a big problem if it was used.
Nevara fired a few rounds as well and downed two. Raiders weren't known for being smart, but they did have sense enough to retreat when they realized that two decent snipers were steadily taking their comrades down.
She was the first to stop firing, and moved back to her bag - which she'd ditched before laying down to shoot the raiders - to rummage through it in search of medical supplies.
He stayed silent. If she needed help, she'd ask, and until then he'd watch to make sure the raiders didn't return.
"You're really gonna act like a child because I lied to you?" she asked.
"You're really gonna act like I can trust you?" he retorted. If she'd lied about her name and origins, what else had she lied about? Had she been acting too, the whole time she'd been in Vegas? Did he even know what kind of person she was?
"That's rich," she shot back, "coming from you."
She was right, and they both knew it. He was a con. A liar. A snake. He always had been, even before House had brought his tribe to the Strip. Still, he'd be damned if he was just gonna let her get away with pulling the crap he did and turning it back on him; if she was even half as bad as he was, he needed to ditch her as soon as he could or else risk getting screwed.
Nevara apparently took his silence as anger, because she kept talking after giving a heavy sigh. "Fine. You want me to tell you what's actually going on?" She rolled her eyes. "It's not like I can go back to Vegas, so I guess it doesn't matter anymore."
He spared a glance to her at the offer. She'd stripped the clothes off her top half except for her bra. He'd seen her without her clothes more than once, so neither of them were bashful in this situation, but he still took a moment to admire her. Her raven hair fell over her left shoulder, moved so she could see her back easier, and her tanned skin was mottled with scars. A large portion were from knives or bullets, but others were from more vicious creatures.
She'd obviously had it rough growing up. Even though she still had her pants on, he knew there was a nasty scar on her thigh from some kind of dog. He'd helped her deal with it the night it happened, and after, she blew his mind - among other things. On her right shoulder, she had massive claw marks. He speculated it had come from a deathclaw, or maybe a yao guai. He'd never seen one before, but she didn't seem to be from Vegas, so maybe she'd had a run-in with one of the bears.
Nevara was examining the bullet hole in her lower back. It was off to the side, meaning it hadn't hit her spine, but she was clearly having a hard time dealing with it on her own because of the location. Benny sighed then, and reluctantly sat next to her. He moved her hand away from the wound, then grabbed her hips and turned her so he could see it easier. If the bullet were left in when she used a stimpack, it'd just move around inside her and could work its way into an organ - which would be bad. That could kill her.
He half-considered leaving it.
Instead, his gaze shifted to her. "Start talking. I'm not pulling this bullet out 'til you do." Despite the statement, he grabbed a pair of tweezers she'd laid out and dipped them into some whiskey to sanitize them. He'd been shot, and he knew how bad it burned; he also knew that Nevara might throw it back in his face and return the favor later if he waited to remove it.
She tossed a glance over her shoulder at him, then sighed and propped her elbow on her knee to rest her chin in her hand. "I'm from Seattle," she said. "Way up north. We get snow."
His brows knitted together. "That's not all I get, right? Why'd you leave, and how'd you end up in Freeside?"
She paused, then sighed. "Look, Benny, it's a lot. You don't wanna hear my whole life story."
"Considering I don't know who the hell you are anymore, baby, I sure do. Give me some peace of mind, why don't ya? Let me know you're not gonna stab me in my sleep."
Nevara rolled her eyes. "Believe me, if I were gonna do that, I've had plenty of chances." She paused, then bit her lip. Clearly, telling the story made her anxious.
"Well?" he prompted.
She stayed silent for several moments before she spoke again. "Benny, I don't want to get into it."
"Well, too bad. You can't go back to the Strip now anyways, baby, so what's it matter?"
"Any way I can get you to just drop it?"
He smirked as he moved in to grab the bullet. "Not a chance."
She didn't seem to notice when he removed the hunk of metal, which Benny assumed was because she was wrapped up in her thoughts. Eventually, she let her eyes fall shut. "My mom was a drunk, chem-addicted whore. We don't know who my dad was, or my sister's, but honestly it was a miracle either of us were born healthy considering she was high through both of the pregnancies.
"My sister - Alice - took care of me most of the time, and our mom wasn't really around. When she was home, she was too high to realize it, and I really don't blame her for never wanting to be around; we had a shack on the outskirts of Seattle and that's about it. Made us an easy target for raiders."
Benny stayed quiet; he'd already used a stimpak to take care of the wound, from her bag of course; there was no chance he'd waste his supplies on her if he could help it. Had to save what he could for when she wasn't around, after all.
"I was kidnapped when I was about nine. Alice had run, and I probably would've too in her shoes. They were planning on just killing or selling me until they realized I could cook, and that I knew how to trap and forage. They kept me around to do that kind of crap, and cleaning, which included mopping up vomit when they got too drunk and handling the frikkin' bathrooms.
"Once I could handle myself, I got to go along on raids; long story short, I got real close to the chief, and four or five years ago I realized it wasn't what I wanted to do with my life, so I left."
He furrowed his brow. She just decided to leave one day, for no reason? That was a lie - or at least, no the whole truth - but he decided not to question it. Instead, he asked, "And they didn't come after you?"
Nevara paused. "They did. I moved in with my sister, who'd married some guy and had a few kids. I had a hard time adjusting to normal life, cause, growing up with raiders doesn't exactly teach you that punching people for looking at you wrong isn't okay. I worked as a mercenary since it didn't require a lot of social skills, and most of the jobs were pretty easy." She paused again, fidgeting with her hair.
"And?" Benny prompted.
She bit her lip, but pressed on. "I came home to my tribe outside my sister's home. The chief took advantage of her while his second in command lit her house on fire - with her husband and kids inside. I, um," she stopped then, her face set in a scowl.
"You ran," he finished. It wasn't hard to come to that conclusion; he'd have done the same thing. Her story hadn't been what he was expecting, but he still wondered why, exactly, she'd left the raiders. They seemed to be doing well for themselves, and she had everything she needed. She'd even gotten close to the chief, which meant she'd had a lot of influence and privileges. There had to be a better reason than she just got tired of it.
"Is that all you wanted to know, Benny?"
He pursed his lips, mulling over the story; she seemed to be telling the truth, but he was still curious. "If all that happened in Seattle, why'd you come all the way to Vegas?"
Nevara bristled at the question. "I'm in hiding."
"What?" He almost laughed, but managed to stop himself. "Sweetheart, if you think your chief is gonna come all this way just for you-"
"He would," she interrupted. "You don't know him like I do, Benny."
"Fair enough, sweetheart" he said, letting his hands rest on her hips. "I hate to break up the heartfelt conversation here, but we need to talk about how we're gonna handle Fortification Hill."
She furrowed her brow. "What? Benny, we can't. You need to run - and not into the arms of Caesar."
He held a finger up. "No, no, hear me out. I'll get caught, on purpose. They'll tie me up and keep me hostage; you show up too, get an audience with Caesar, and get me a stealth boy and a bobby pin. I'll get free, and you can kill the old man and use your own stealth boy to get out - after you shoot Caesar in the head."
"Sounds like you're just leaving me hanging there," she muttered. "I don't like it. I'd rather slip you a gun."
"We can't kill a whole camp of Legionnaires, not on our own."
"Well, ignoring that's what you just suggested I try," Nevara said, "I bet your courier could."