Soul Eater; New Vegas

By Vivalarapture

Chapter Three. Jackie.

"Come on Girl, time to get up."

I open my eyes to see Jackie standing above me and Lantern excitedly licking my face. I giggle as I push her away, gently chastising the dog.

"I'm up, I'm up." Jackie grins, and pads out of the room, her gun already slung over her shoulder.

"Get dressed and meet me outside. I grilled up some mantis; we can eat on the way. We've got some geckos to kill."

I quickly get out of bed, pulling on the pants Jackie had given me a couple weeks ago. Dr. Stein had tried giving me a jumpsuit from the Vault he was originally from, but it's too damn hot for a jumpsuit. I've learned a lot in the month and a half I've been living with Jackie, and one thing was that overheating in the Nevada desert is a pretty big hazard.

I throw on a shirt and sit on the bed to pull on my boots. Jackie has been letting me sleep on the extra bed in her house, one of the run down shacks along the Southeast part of town. I slip on my second boot and stand up, stretching away my sleepiness.

It's nice here. Sure, we have to kill the creatures that come near town, and sure it's hot as hell, and sure, I still haven't gotten used to beer and everyone makes fun of me for it, but it's nice. Everyone in town knows and accepts me. Jackie and Lantern are like my family, and having no memories, this is the only family I've ever had.

I hit the top of my boots on the sandy wooden floor as I walk, making my feet more comfortable. I've gotten a few faint flashbacks of sorts, but nothing concrete. Nothing that would tell me my name, who I was, or where I was from.

Whenever I get images from my past, all the faces are blurred. It's like my mind is messing with me. Giving me the slightest bit of environment, some garbled dialogue I can barely understand, and no faces. I shake my head, hand on the door knob. I don't need to know about my past. I don't care about what had happened before this. I'm at home in Goodsprings, and that is all I'll ever need. There's always a nagging pulling in my brain, whispering that I need to find out, but I've been quieting it in exchange for the happy life I have here.

I smile as I open the door, Jackie standing beyond the door frame, waggling her finger at Lantern. That dog is always getting into trouble.

"I'm ready!" I call, shouldering my own gun. Jackie pats Lantern on the head, already forgiving the dog for whatever transgression she had committed. "Good. I guess Doc saw some geckos down by our water source, so we should go check it out."

I nod and follow her down the path. She tosses me a grilled mantis leg which I hurriedly bite into, knowing I have to finish eating before we get to the geckos. Before I came along, it was Jackie's job to rid the town of the unsettling creatures.

Now that I'm living with her, that job is mine as well. I wave to a few towns people we pass, and they nod or wave back at me. It's a good feeling knowing that people rely on us to keep the town safe.

"Howdy, pardner!"

I look up as the sun is suddenly blocked by something. "Hey, Patty." I wave and crane my neck up to stare at the robot.

"How are ya?" She asks, rolling back and forth on the sand. I lean back on my heels, "I'm doing great. How are you?"

"I'm fantastic! Ain't it a beautiful mornin'?" I nod, agreeing with her. After my first few days, I went and found Patty and thanked her for saving me that blurry night. She waved it off, telling me it was just "nice ta help outta stranger. Neighborly-ness an' all."

She's a little intimidating, to be honest. She stands a good two feet taller than me, her metal body ending in a wheel she rolls around on, and giant metal arms that have pincers at the end. To top it all off, the menacing robot body has the image of a cute, blonde girl with a cowboy hat on the big screen on her front. It's all a little contradicting, but I owe her my life, and will always be thankful for that. Even if she is a little creepy at times.

"Well ah'll be seein' ya, darlin! Have a wonderful day!" I tip my head, saying my goodbye as I hurry to catch up to Jackie. The water source is at the edge of town, so it takes us a few minutes to get there. The first time we went hunting, I was nearly eaten because I froze when the creature ran toward me. Jackie saved me a second time when she blew its head to bits when it was about 6 inches from my face. I shake my head at the image, it took me six buckets of water to wash all the blood from my hair.

I walk along beside Jackie, our feet tapping in time with each step. Everyone here keeps saving me, and I'm a little tired of being the damsel in distress. I'm still figuring things out about myself, but being dependent doesn't seem like a quality I would have. I hold onto my gun over my shoulder, my fingers relishing the cool metal. I'm going to earn my keep here.

Jackie turns around and motions for me to be quiet and get down. I crouch immediately, weeks of hunting now muscle memory for me. Lantern growls under her breath, teeth bared, but one hand flip from Jackie and she goes silent.

Jackie inches forward and waits until the creatures are within a close range. She aims the gun and pulls the trigger on the first gecko. She hisses when it grabs its head in pain but runs straight at her, disregarding the bullet wound.

The creatures are bigger than the mole rat that almost ate me when I first braved the Wasteland. When they run at you, the skin on the side of their faces rises up and fans out behind them, making themselves even bigger. The bastards stand up on their hind legs and barrel towards you, arms hanging at their sides.

I stand up, steadying myself and aiming for its head. It falls to the ground when I squeeze the trigger, head rolling off its shoulders and onto the dirt.

Jackie grins at me, "You're getting good at this, Girl." I nod happily before six more geckos run around the corner of the cliff face. Jackie curses, and Lantern bolts from our side to attack one of the beasts. I aim my gun, careful to avoid the dog ripping a gecko to shreds, and pull the trigger.

One down. Five to go.

Jackie is crouching at my side, shooting another one in the stomach. Jackie always tells me crouching is the best way to aim correctly, but it just doesn't feel right for me to be down so low.

She quickly stands up, though, and moves backwards a few paces as two of the geckos break out of the pack and rush at us. That was another reason I always stand when hunting geckos; these fuckers are fast.

Jackie lets out a string of curses as it nears her, but shoots it through the mouth, ripping its head sideways and dropping it to the ground. She lets herself smile a little, and I cock my gun, shooting at the other one coming our way.

Three down. Three to go.

I hear Lantern howl, and I flip my head around, only to see her rip an arm off the gecko in front of her, crunching down on the bones. She spits out the arm and proceeds to sink her jaws into its belly, eliciting a strangled squeal from the creature.

Four down. Two to go.

I'm nearly knocked down by Jackie bumping into me, her drawl of, "Sorry!" is drowned out by a shrieking gecko not two feet from us. We both jump backwards and fire at the same time, both hitting vital organs. My bullet lodges into the head, hers in the gut. I always figured myself more of a head shot kind of girl. I don't have time to contemplate the irony of that as another gecko runs towards us.

I hop out of its way, causing the thing to scream with rage and try to fling itself back towards us. I giggle at the geckos anger and jump out of the way once more. Jackie raises an eyebrow as it heads back towards us, arms flinging around haphazardly, mouth open, teeth bared, and feet scuttling along the ground, flinging up clouds of dirt as it runs.

After taking out another gecko, Lantern trots over to us, watching with a tipped head as we play Keep Away with the creature. Lantern barks, and starts to run circles around it. The gecko seems infuriated, or as infuriated as a mutated reptile can get, and gives up trying to bite us and turns to attack Lantern.

Jackie raises her gun as Lantern bares her teeth and stands her ground. She squeezes the trigger, popping the geckos head off when it gets a little too close to her dog.

"Well that's enough of that. It was pretty fun, though. It almost looked like it was dancing."

I pull my canteen out of my pack, taking a swig and wiping a hand over my mouth, "It was a better dancer than Easy Pete, that's for sure."

Jackie takes the canteen as I offer it and pats Lantern on the head, congratulating her on a job well done. "That's for sure. Although with that old hip and a few shots of vodka in him, he's pretty funny to watch too."

I nod my agreement and we head back towards the town, sharing jokes the whole way back.

"Do you want to head to the saloon for a few beers? Well, I'll have a few beers, you can enjoy a couple Sunset Sarsaparilla's." I smack her lightly on her arm, grumbling under my breath. It's not my fault I'm not a drinker. A week ago they tried to force me to take a shot of whiskey and I nearly died.

"Sure. I heard Kim's got some news about Primm."

Jackie nods, suddenly somber. The town to the South of Goodsprings is having troubles with escaped convicts. I had no idea of the troubles going on in our area for the first week of living in Goodsprings. Kim and Jackie gave me a small history lesson after I asked ten too many questions one evening at the bar.

The Mojave Wasteland is in a place called Nevada, but another state started a military and are making their way across the Mojave. The NCR, or New California Republic, brought the convicts attacking Primm from another place called California to build a railroad, and apparently giving prisoners explosives turned out to be a bad idea. They had taken over the town, and are killing anyone they can find.

Jackie, Lantern and I walk into the saloon, waving to the regulars as we take a seat at the bar. Kim paces over, already prepared with a beer and a Sunset Sarsaparilla. She hands them to us, questioning our recent gecko fight.

Jackie beams at Kim, "Great! We got all of them."

Kim's eyes light up, her attention directed only on Jackie, "I didn't have any doubt in you."

Jackie scoffs lightly, her face turning red. I chuckle behind a hand, watching their interaction. These two were so obvious. I sip my drink, absentmindedly scratching Lantern behind the ear. She thumps her hind leg on the ground, wuffing happily. I smile and look back up to Kim.

"So any more news about Primm?"

Kim grimaces and nods grimly, "Yeah, Girl, and it doesn't look so good for them." I sigh, taking another drink as she offers it, "What's going on down there?"

Kim shrugs with a somber look on her face, "The convicts have taken over almost the entire town. The NCR has moved in to try to get them out, but we all know how well that's going to work.. There's nothing we can do."

Jackie and I both nod sadly. I don't know much about the NCR, only what people around town have said about them. Kim says they're a bunch of soldiers from California come to take Nevada as their own. They keep the roads clear, but at what cost? Easy Pete doesn't like them one bit, and Jackie is undecided.

She says she appreciates the easy trade routes that keep people coming to Goodsprings, but the NCR only care about their own people. Protecting the Mojave Wasteland just kind of went along with their bigger mission. Jackie told me about how they had taken control of Hoover Dam, getting it in working order again to provide people with electricity and clean water.

That conversation always led to many talks about the Legion. I know even less about them. Kim is the one who usually has the information, but all she knows is that they're from across the Colorado river and call themselves Asura's Legion. Kim says they're nasty bastards that keep slaves and like to nail people up on crosses to die.

A deep, cold shiver always runs through me when they talk about Asura's Legion. Some sort of innate fear and anger always sweeps through me. I almost feel like Lantern in front of a radscorpion when the words Asura or Legion are mentioned in conversation. My hackles would raise and I feel like baring my teeth.

Jackie shakes her head, pouring a little beer on the floor, "Here's to all our fellow Wastelanders, slaughtered by escaped convicts and to the ones holed up and fighting for their lives."

Kim smacks Jackie over the head with the rag, "Don't you be wasting that good beer and dirtying up my saloon!" Jackie chuckles and rubs her head, "Sorry, Kim. But you know it's true. I think we should go try to help."

Kim continues to grumble and clean her counters, "You know I would love to help, but it's too dangerous."

Jackie and I order iguana on a stick, and share two between us and Lantern. As I munch on a piece of tough meat, Jackie glances over at me, looking curious.

"So have you thought about what you're going to do?"

I raise an eyebrow, tossing the stick on the ground for Lantern to chew on. "What do you mean?"

Jackie runs a hand through her dark hair, looking a little uncomfortable, "You know what I mean, you need to find the guy that shot you. I know it makes you upset to think about, but haven't you ever wanted to know WHY you were shot and left for dead?"

I shift in my seat, glancing over at Kim in hopes that she'll change the subject. Kim is pointedly looking away from us, but I know she's listening.

"Of course I'm curious, Jackie, but I have a good life here. Why would I want to leave that?" My eyes widen, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth at the realization, "Or.. Do you want me to leave?"

Jackie swings on the barstools, her knees knocking with mine as she puts her hands up, "No no no! Nothing like that, I love having you here. I just don't want you to get stuck here and never know who you used to be."

I bite the inside of my cheek, feeling a little better that at least Jackie doesn't want me gone, "My memories don't matter anymore. You and Jackie and Kim and Stein matter."

Jackie smiles gently, putting her hand on my knee, "I'm glad you care about us, but don't talk about yourself like that. You matter, and you memories have a vital role in that. Don't you want to know why you even ended up here?"

I feel my face heat up and I fiddle with the loops on my pants before I can look back up at Jackie, "Of course I want to know, but I won't ever leave you."

Jackie rolls her eyes, but she chuckles and ruffles my hair, "You are so stubborn. Okay that's fine, but promise me if you ever leave, you'll find out the truth? I'm just as curious as you are, if not more!"

I nod quickly, giving her a small smile, happy to be away from that touchy subject.

After a few hours in the saloon, Jackie gets up and stretches, kinks forming in both our backs from sitting for so long.

"Let's go outside, yeah? The sun should be setting soon." Jackie turns to Kim, waving and smiling brightly, "We'll see you tomorrow, Kim!" I wave goodbye to Kim as well, tossing a couple bottle caps on the counter.

When we walk outside, the light of the setting sun temporarily blinds me after being in the saloon for so long. Lantern trots beside me, panting happily, while Jackie meanders behind, arms over her head. It's an unusually hot today, and everyone is feeling the heat. Jackie exchanged her usual jeans for a pair of shorts and she left her second pistol at home, complaining that it would make her sweat too much in the waistband of her pants.

I ask Jackie if it's always this hot, and she replies with, "No, thank the fuckin' Lord."

We're all excited for winter, when the weather will ease up and we can all walk around without fear of drying up like a prune.

Beside me, I hear Lantern growl. I raise an eyebrow at her, trying to calm her down with a pat to the head, "Lantern, what's going on?" Jackie turns around and gives the dog the same look, "What is it?" She asks, kneeling down to scratch her behind the ears.

Lantern simply shrugs her hand off, and bares her teeth even farther. She takes off down the path, veering off the road and into the desert. Jackie curses and runs after her, and I stand for a moment, frozen. Jackie said to never go off the roads. There were varmints that didn't take kindly to getting shot, she said. I shake my head, and run after them, trying to ignore my conflicting brain.

"LANTERN! YOU STUPID MUTT! GET BACK HERE!" Jackie calls, running as fast as she can after the dog. I'm almost out of breath by the time I catch up with Jackie, and neither of us are close to Lantern; We must have run at least two miles. She curses again and again, and I'm actually mildly surprised by some of the curse words that fly from her mouth.

"Stupid fucking dog! She knows what lurks this way!"

Lantern comes back into view after a few seconds, growling louder than I've ever heard her before. I notice Jackie's eyes widen and she shoves me behind a boulder.

I'm about to yell at her when she slams a hand down on my mouth, her lips set in a grim line.

"You sit your ass down and don't move. Stay quiet, and do not move. No matter what, you got me?" She whispers harshly, and I nod, not understanding what she means.

I hear Lantern start to bark furiously, and Jackie curses again, peaking her head out from behind the boulder. She hisses in fear, and slides down the rock a bit before she takes a firmer grip on her gun and looks at me with a fierce expression. "You do as I say, okay, Girl?" I nod dumbly, clutching my gun tighter as Lantern's barks become angrier.

She hugs me tighter than she ever has and pats my cheek, "Stay put and be quiet. I'll be right back."

I nod again, watching as she positions her gun with shaking hands and rushes out from behind the boulder.

Lanterns barks and growls suddenly turn into howls and whimpers as a louder growl rips through the air. I squeak and pressed a hand to my mouth. A gunshot rings out, and then the only sounds I hear are the sounds of flesh being ripped apart. I choke down a scream as tears pour unbidden own my face.

What is she fighting?

I hear Lantern squeal and I try to push myself up from behind the boulder to go and help. Jackie's words ring in my ears, keeping my shaking limbs pinned to the ground. "I'll be right back."

Another otherworldly roar pierces my eardrums, followed by six gun shots, and a choked cry. I have to bite down on my fingers to keep from screaming. I can no longer hear Lantern or any gun shots. Jackie is a quick shot; she can kill a gecko faster than anyone I know.

Listening carefully for any noise that tells me they are safe, the wet sound of blood squelching from a wound finds my ears. Instantly, a spray of blood comes from over the top of the boulder and lands onto my leg. I scramble to wipe the liquid from my jeans. It squishes into my boots and coats my fingers. A whimper escapes my clenched lips, and then all is silent.

I'm breathing heavily, but I can't let myself be heard. I promised Jackie. I promised.

I hear a crunch and then the sound of something being dragged across the dirt. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to stand again. I can't just sit here like a helpless baby. Jackie taught me better than that. I would fight, that was what being a Wastelander is all about.

I unclench my legs and stand shakily, ready to turn and fight. A small cry comes from behind the rock that stops me in my tracks.

"Don't you dare move from that spot!" Jackie cries out, her voice hoarse, and then another rip of skin and was silent. I bite down on my tongue hard enough to draw blood, but don't move. I listen to the dragging for what seemed like forever.

I finally peer my head past the boulder and gape at the carnage before me. There's a creature about 50 feet away, dragging a body behind it. I whimper and drop unceremoniously to my knees.

Whatever that thing is, it's enormous. Bigger than any radscorpion, gecko or mole rat I had ever seen. It stands taller than Patty even. It's muscular, with tendons rippling under light brown skin. Its tail whips around as it walks, huge talon covered feet scraping along the dirt, one of its huge hands swinging by its side, with claws bigger than my forearm. Monstrous black horns spiral from its head, twisting and curling upwards.

I look down at the blood soaked dirt and instantly puke up everything in my stomach. Shards of skin are strewn about, fur caked with blood lines the ground, and in the middle of the battle ground, Lantern lies torn to bits, almost unrecognizable.

I gag again, dry heaving for a good 10 minutes before I can breathe again. I can't move my limbs. I fall to the ground, my knees caving out from under myself. I fall onto my face, not bothering to throw my arms out to catch myself.

My family was gone. Again.

I lay on the ground for longer than I can remember. When I finally have the strength to look up, the sun is gone and the moon hangs over the mountains. I pick myself up, all emotions gone. I'm numb. I carry myself over to the body of Lantern and click her collar open, accidentally coating my hand in blood. I clench the collar so hard in my hand I nearly cut off all circulation.

I walk back towards Goodsprings, my feet moving of their own accord. As I approach town, I still can't feel anything. As I grasp the handle of Jackie's door, anger is finally seeping into every pore in my body. My eye sight is tinged with red as I pack my sparse things into my pack and walk back out the door.

I can't stick around and watch the mourning of the whole town. I could have stopped her from dying, I could have done something, but I did nothing. Tears burn the corner of my eyes, and I furiously wrench a hand across my face. Jackie told me to never cry.

Fear grips my insides as I think about telling everyone what happened. My blood turns to ice as a name goes through my mind. Kim. What am I going to tell Kim?

I grasp the collar tighter as I see a lone person standing outside, the figure cast in shadow. I walk up the hill towards the figure, looking up into the misty grey eyes of Dr. Stein. My throat closes up and I can't even say it.

He sees it, though. The way my clothes are covered in blood and dirt, the pack on my back, and the ripped collar clenched in my fist. His eyes rake over my appearance and I can barely look him in the eye. I've never even seen the Dr. apprehensive before, and this terror on his face is too much for me to bear.

"What happened?" He starts, his voice shaky and unsure. My voice has left me and all I can do is shake my head. I clear my throat and croak out, "Something big. Lantern ran off the path and we followed."

Stein puts a hand on my shoulder. I know he's trying to be supportive, but his trembling hand is doing the opposite. "What did it look like?"

Red flashes in my vision again and I suck in a harsh breath as I try to remember.

"Big. Bigger than Patty, even. Long black horns, huge claws."

Stein clenches his fist and a flash of absolute terror covers his usually apathetic eyes before he starts patting me down, checking for any injuries in the mess of blood over me.

"That's a Deathclaw. Where are you hurt at, we need to-"

I cut him off with a shove of my arms. I'm not angry at him, I'm angry at myself.

"The blood isn't mine."

He doesn't answer and I can't find it in me to look at him. He changes the subject, "Why do you have your pack?"

I feel a bead of moisture trickle down my cheek and my heart drops to my feet, "I can't stay here, now."

Stein shakes his head, "It's not pretty, but this is life. People die out here, and sometimes there's nothing you can do."

Fire rushes through me, "It's not fair, and it shouldn't be like this! Jackie saved me, you saved me, even Patty saved me! But I couldn't do anything to save her." My finger nails bite into my palms, "Why am I still alive?"

Stein winces at my tone, but I can't regret it. He squeezes my shoulder and exhales slowly, "You have to find that out for yourself."

A memory of Jackie making me promise to find out who I was makes its way into my mind. I square my feet and feel determination taking me over. I nod and pry his hand off my shoulder, "I will. I promised her I'd find out."

I glare at the blood on my jeans and force myself to focus, "What do you know about the man that shot me?"

Stein sighs, his eyes flashing with remorse, "Patty said he was wearing a checkered suit. He has blond hair and piercings all over his face. He was with two Great Khans."

At the description of the man who shot me, my blood starts to boil. Jackie had made me promise to find out what had happened to me, but now I wanted to know. I had to know.

"Were they in town?"

Stein nods, his entire body rigid, "Yes. They were in the saloon the night before you were shot."

My muscles tighten at the mention of the saloon. Someone was going to have to tell Kim.

"Did they say where they were going?"

Stein looks up at me, face contorting with something I can't recognize, "Girl.. You don't want to go there."

"Where did they say they were going." It wasn't a request anymore.

"New Vegas. The Strip. Way, way up North."

I nod slowly, absorbing the information. Kim and Jackie used to talk about The Strip. They said they heard it was magical, despite the sin that everyone said it's drenched in. They always planned on taking a trip up there, but never wanted to brave that far into the Wasteland. Now they'd never get to.

"How do I get to Primm? Those convicts are threatening Goodsprings and I won't let any more good people die because of this madness. Jackie wanted to go help, and now I will."

Stein presses his fingers on the bridge of his nose again, a sign he's getting stressed, "Head Southeast out of town and take the highway South. There's a big roller coaster in the middle of town, you can't miss it."

I inhale deeply, forcing myself to look him in the eyes, "Then I'll take a trip to Primm before I head to The Strip. I'll kill the man who shot me. For myself and for Jackie." My voice cuts off at the end, and I can't stop the squeak of pain.

"Please.. Please tell Kim I'm sorry."

Stein nods, the muscles in his neck tight. He must be thinking of how he was going to break the news to her.

He puts an arm around my shoulders and squeezes gently, "Come back when you're ready. You're always welcome here."

I couldn't answer even if I wanted to. I hug him back, trying not to imprint the blood staining my clothes onto his pristine lab coat. I hold up my hand in a mock salute and head southeast out of town.

Someday when I know who I am, I'll come back.