It felt like her eyes were on fire. A thin veil of white came over them and she blinked to no avail. Within a few minutes it began to phase out ever so slightly and she could see the horizon bit by bit. A gasp almost escaped her lips and she continued shutting her eyes to remove the fuzz surrounding everything.

A stiff wind tugged at her hair and she finally remembered where she was before swiveling around to the aged wood door that closed her off from the Vault's tunnel. It was dead silent, no cries of commands or pleas from them for her to return.

Just the wind, the noon sunshine, and never ending span of brown, dead landscape. "Scenic over view my ass."

Harley woke up with cramps and slowly stretched them out. The morning sun hadn't come up just yet so she figured it was about six. Charon watched her a way off as she wordlessly rummaged through her bag for a half-destroyed hairbrush and meticulously combed her mop of hair until it was free of knots. It took her about half an hour before she finally glanced at him, grunted and turned back to her pack to find some food. While she was eating, she still hadn't said a word, and Charon nibbled contentedly on some Cram.

Charon had stayed up to be the night-watch as Harley slept fitfully, her face making snarls and grimaces in her sleep. Despite how nasty she was, the girl was still young. It didn't excuse her actions, but it more so explained why she was using such taboo means of getting by.

By far, she was the most interesting contract holder. Making chem deals, not killing ferals, and yet somehow afraid of radroaches. He chuckled lightly as she turned to him.

"Alright..."she said calmly, "Charon we're heading north away from the river. We shouldn't be attacked by anything since mole rats and Yao Guai ignore me completely, but be prepared."

The red headed ghoul glanced up in slight surprise, "Really? How odd, every ghoul that came through to Underworld from the Wastes was terrified of them."

Harley shrugged before standing up and holstering the Mesmertron to her hip, "I don't know why, or course they used to attack me but they've stopped after I've explored a lot."

Charon chuckled darkly, "You know, you're in a lot better mood than yesterday."

Harley smirked before placing her assault rifle on her back and a combat knife in her boot, "Yeah, I am, so what? When death is all around you being depressing doesn't help. But believe me, that mood comes and goes. Come on, we should go."

They traveled north past arching destroyed super-highways and rocky crags. A few of the mutated black bears glanced at her and she walked on with Charon following her. It took the pair about three hours before they reached the Scrapyard. Harley peered at the towering metal heaps from under her bandana, pale face tanned from the sun exposure. "We're almost to the Minefield." she noted quietly before falling into a crouch and edging to the inside of the Scrapyard.

They sneaked around the heaps cautiously, a loud gurgling yell making Harley jump slightly. "It's not safe here." the raspy voice sounded from behind her. She looked at him incredulously before crawling to peer around stacked metal plates.

Two male raiders danced around a snarling beast with uncertainty as it lunged for their legs. "You're dead meat!" one yelled angrily.

A feral growl ripped from the animal's chest as it snapped at the dark skinned raider wearing sadist's armor. The raider's friend pulled a switchblade from his belt and the animal twisted around to leap at him. It grabbed his wrist and with a flash of the beast's fangs severed the artery and had blood pooling on the dusty floor.

"You son of a bitch!" the raider screeched as he dropped the blade and the growling animal released him before turning to the other one. His friend stared in a brief horror and turned to flee before the feral creature lunged for his neck and hung there determinedly. The raider's eyes bulged slightly as the beast closed his access to air, and crumpled underneath the beast dead. The injured man looked up and began hyperventilating before the creature launched for the other throat and shoved him into the dirt.

It clawed at his chest and the two spectators watched with intent as the raider grappled weakly and then went still as teeth punctured his windpipe. It glanced up with blood covering its mouth and growled once more as in triumph.

Harley watched with mixed emotions; fear initially, then delight, and then relief. "What the fuck is that thing?" she finally muttered.

Charon squinted his milky eyes, "I think... I think it's a... dog," The ghoul watched disbelievingly as well.

"What a wonderful creature!" Harley almost shouted it. Although she said it too loudly and the dog twirled around with its nose twisted into a snarl. Much to Charon's dismay and the contract's rules going against it, Harley stood up and approached the bristling hound. He reached to grab for her arm but she ripped it away and looked at him sourly before calmly saying, "It's alright, I know what I'm doing." She didn't look at him when she said it but stared loosely at the hound's eyes.

His left eye was blue and the right one was brown. The long black strands of fur on his back were puffed out and Harley could still see the blood decorating his fangs. Harley figured him to be an Australian cattle dog* from what she remembered reading from the old books back in Vault 101. She always liked the animals from the photos, but every living example of them had attempted to kill her, except for tamed ones that residents sometimes owned.

"Easy now... we're not going to hurt you. By the look of it you should be promising us that, huh?" Her tone was nice and light, and the dog stopped growling only to glare at them with barred teeth.

Harley pulled her pack around and the dog resumed growling before she pulled out some iguana bits and carefully tossed them to the dog. He watched the pair intently before hungrily snatching them up and eating them.

"What are you doing?" Charon whispered angrily. She raised her hand to him in silence and waited. The dog finished eating and looked up with his eyes twinkling now; his ears were alert and he had stopped snarling completely to pant lightly.

"See? You know, I think you're the first dog I've met that didn't try to eat me." He barked happily at her now and he turned to sniff at Charon. He hesitantly held his hand out and the dog licked it before turning to Harley and barking again.

"You know, you weren't dead meat at all," He wagged his tail and looked at Harley with acceptance. "Dogmeat sounds like a fitting name for you." she smiled before patting the cattle dog's head. "Alright!" Harley said happily, "Let's go."