Boone awoke from his drunken slumber at the smell of something cooking. He stirred and looked up from where his head had previously been laying on his arm with sleepy eyes.
He saw Becka in the early morning light stirring a can of something that was placed near the smoldering fire pit. She was humming a sad tune to herself but was smiling nonetheless. The sniper groaned and let his head fall back down. He had to quit drinking so much before sleep.
"Morning sleeping beauty", she chimed.
With a little more sunlight stimulation he sat up brushing the dirt off his outfit. When he got a wiff of the food again his stomach grumbled and his mouth watered. A little piece of fruit yesterday didn't exactly fill him up.
"Here", she handed him the can of pork n beans wrapped in a cloth, "nothing like irradiated beans for breakfast eh?"
He accepted the food wordlessly and ate while she cooked up one for herself. He saw her glance at the empty vodka bottle next to where he was sleeping while she ate.
"So I take it you fell asleep during your watch?"
He grunted in reply but said nothing more. He didn't feel like explaining himself to anyone right now especially with the hangover he had at the moment.
She shrugged and shoved a spoonful of moist beans into her mouth, "good thing I set those mines last night then".
Boone glared hardly at her. This chick had a dangerous fetish for mines. "And you didn't bother telling me?"
Becka shrugged again with a smile, "don't get your panties in a wad mate it was a joke. Wouldn't want you going off to take a piss and come back in pieces now would we?"
"That's not funny", he grumbled throwing the now empty can into the fire.
"Geesh I get more response to a joke from a cactus", she muttered mimicking Boone with her can. She stood and started stretching until he heard the cracking of her tendons. "Well, we better shove on. If we get going now we'll make it to Grub n' Gulp by noon".
Boone nodded remembering the time he and the courier stopped there to sleep. With care she hoisted the backpack full of eggs on her back and picked up her rusted sniper rifle.
They were off moments later down the potholed, littered road by eight o' clock. The sun only a few inches up over the mountains was already pounding them with its violent rays. Becka looked up at an old road sign that wilted over like a dead plant. She wondered what it was like to drive around in cars instead of walking everywhere.
"Hey Boone, have you ever seen a car?"
"Plenty of 'em", he replied not changing his expression. They just so happened to pass a disfigured truck that looked like a giant fist had crushed it from the top.
She faked a laugh, "funny guy, no I mean one that isn't crushed and is in working condition".
He raised his brow slightly and looked at her, "no".
"Well I read a book once and it said that it took them to speeds up to 100 miles an hour. Just think of all the time we could save with one of those!"
"Yea if you could find one intact".
Becka grabbed a nuka cola out of a satchel around her waist, "did you know that they had fast ones that raced around a track for competition?"
A crow flew overhead cawing loudly as Boone readjusted his beret. He saw her huffing to get the cap screwed off the bottle with little success.
"Here", he grabbed it from her and twisted it off with ease.
Becka smirked, "thanks mate, I loosened it for ya". She swore she saw him smile slightly in response.
"I was thinking as soon as I'm done at the 188 I'm gonna head West maybe find a place by the beach in California. I want to open up a repair shop for weapons and stuff. My father was a great engineer back in his days and-"
Boone stopped abruptly and lifted his hand to silence her, "do you hear that?"
Becka strained her ears. She did hear something. It sounded like a rythmatic beat of the wind but when she truly concentrated it was a buzzing sound.
"Cazadors!", Boone shouted just as three of them came flying over a hill. He had his gun out before Becka could even get her hands on hers. She pulled out her 10mm and dropped her pack to the ground hoping the contents weren't cracked. With unbound determination two of them managed to reach her before Boone could take them out after shooting down the first.
Becka rolled backwards as one of them attempted to slice her with its stinger. The shots from her gun echoed throughout the Mojave as she brought one down. It buzzed madly and twitched before dying. The aussie felt something cool in her back and heard the maddened chittering from the third Cazador before ducking and rolling to the side. Boone took care of it with a quick shot to its head.
Becka huffed and stood on shaky legs grumbling, "Bloody bugs".
"Probably a nest around here", he stated ripping the poison sack from one of them.
"Well….let's shove on..before-".
Boone saw her sway out of the corner of his eyes, "you okay?"
Becka steadied herself and nodded pressing a palm into her eyes, "yea just a little light headed". Her dark brown eyes met his in confusion as she blinked a couple of times, "do you smell bacon?"
Before the sniper had a chance to respond she fell to the ground too fast for him to reach out and catch her. He rushed over and noticed the large black stinger protruding out of her back. Cazador stingers would dig into human flesh until it was completely submerged, the poison with it, and if the sting wasn't treated in six hours…
Cursing to himself he picked her up bridal style. He should probably leave her pack here in order to get there faster. He used the toe of his boot to tap her discarded bag and frowned when green liquid oozed out of it. She was going to be pissed beyond belief. Boone slung her sniper over his shoulder along with his rifle and started marching to the 188.
