Passing under the enormous metal figures towering over I-15, Sunny mentioned to Mason that the one on the right with its long coat and distinctive helmet looked a little like him. He grunted in a sarcastic way that said 'never heard that one before', and continued into the razor wired enclosure of Mojave Outpost. Sunny looked around, taking in the different buildings and watching the groups of people and brahmin milling around. Everyone had a sour expression and an air of pent up frustration. Mason passed through a sandbag reinforced gateway and started up a rickety looking wooden ramp that lead up to the roof of one of the buildings. As they ascended, Mason began speaking in a loud and deep voice, like someone reciting poetry.
"I lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."
At the top, a lone figure seated in a rusty chair behind a wall of sandbags turned to look at them. Ranger Ghost doffed her sunglasses, her albino skin even more striking up close, and smiled crookedly at Mason.
"Well, if it isn't the biggest, baddest hombre to ever walk the wastes." Ghost stood and swaggered over to Mason, greeting him with a fraternal clap on the shoulder. She was about two feet shorter than him and he responded by resting his arm on top of her head, jamming her cowboy hat down over her brows.
"Little sister, you know that you are tougher than all the other rangers put together. That's why they stuck you out here in the ass end of nowhere. To keep the rest of us from looking bad."
Ghost slapped his arm away and readjusted her hat, then offered a hand to Sunny.
"Ghost" she said "and don't believe a word this guy says."
Sunny smiled and introduced herself.
"I guess I have you to thank for saving my life back there on I-15"
Ghost tried to look confused and replied loudly, "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've been at my post all day." She emphasized the last two words with an exaggerated wink at Sunny and Mason. She then added in a hurried whisper. "Sergeant Kilborn covered for me. Jackson wouldn't listen when I asked to go investigate the rumors I had heard about missing travelers on the way to Primm. So what if I may have taken an extra-long lunch break today." She shrugged and turned back to her post, calling back over her shoulder. "You know where I am if you need me Alec." Mason saluted and ushered Sunny back down the ramp.
Mason met with Ranger Jackson inside the headquarters building to fill him in on the Nevada Highway Patrol Station situation, conveniently leaving out the parts of the story pertaining to Ghost. Jackson was gruffly grateful to them for clearing out the Jackals and offered them lodging in the barracks for the night. Mason excused himself and told Sunny he would meet back up with her a little later.
Later that evening Sunny sat on the ground watching the sun sink in line with the vanishing point of I-15. She had managed to give herself and Cheyenne a cold rinse from one of the slimy water troughs normally reserved for the caravan animals. Brahmin backwash was no joke, but it was better than blood and brains. More satisfactory was the hot meal she got from Lacey at the barracks bar, but she didn't really feel like hanging out next to a bunch of drunken, bored, and irate caravanners. She took her meal back out to the far western side of the outpost where she could look out on California.
The horizon was glowing in a rainbow of fiery color, and she closed her eyes, imagining that she could actually feel the shades of the sunset rolling across her face. She smiled, and the warmth seemed to spread from her mouth, down the sides of her neck and into her entire body, giving her a sense of peace. When she opened her eyes, she was a little surprised, but not displeased, to see Ranger Mason sitting next to her. He was looking out at the swiftly disappearing sun too, and didn't offer any conversation at first, but once the last sliver of light was gone, he spoke.
"I know today was another bad day for you, so I wanted to make sure that you wanted to keep going."
He was trying not to sound judgmental, but he knew that she had recently suffered a huge personal loss through violence, and then had twice been in violent encounters since joining up with him. She seemed tough, but he had no idea what was going on inside her mind, and he knew that the Mojave wasn't going to get any nicer between here and Camp Golf.
Sunny contemplated for a moment, not sure what to say. Her first reaction was one of dismay, fearing that he would leave her behind. She knew she had screwed up in their encounter with the Jackals, missing her shot and not reloading fast enough. Mason likely didn't want the responsibility of looking out for her and possibly watching her die due to her own stupidity.
"I understand if you don't want me along. I messed up today, but I have nowhere else to go." She tried to keep the pleading out of her voice. "I've been used to picking off geckos and the occasional bark scorpion, and I have no real experience against the real dangerous stuff out there, but if you're willing to give me another chance, I'd like to stay with you."
Mason nodded and replied.
"In that case you should have this." He handed over a new rifle, a shiny .308 with a scope and a glossy redwood stock, a far better weapon than her old varmint gun. "I convinced Jackson to part with a little surplus equipment."
"Well that's the nicest thing anyone has ever gotten me." She chuckled as though it were a joke, but she actually meant it. She hadn't been on the receiving end of many presents in her life. "Thank you."
Mason didn't laugh though, and looked very serious when he continued speaking.
"Well I guess you could say it's an investment." He stood and brushed the dust off his coat. "The way things work out here is this. You learn to take care of your own ass, and then if you're lucky enough one day you find someone else who is willing to share the responsibility. That's how it is with the rangers. We all learn to be the absolute baddest thing on two, four, or six legs in wasteland because we have to be. We work alone most of the time, but it helps to know that somewhere out there in this hell hole there is another scope on another rifle, or another cylinder on another pistol, and another bear patch on the shoulder of another ranger ready to do whatever it takes to save your ass if they can."
"Are you offering to train me to be a ranger?" Sunny was a little shocked, never having considered herself a candidate for military life, let alone something as elite as a ranger.
"I'm saying I see potential in you, and I don't want to see it go to waste. Your strategy with the Powder Gangers, while unconventional, was extremely effective, and you stood your ground with the Jackals even when faced with the imminent threat of death. There's the small problem that you aren't even an NCR soldier, but I've done more unorthodox things in my tenure so that's the least of our problems. I'm willing to give it a try if it's what you want."
Sunny thought she would be stupid to turn down his offer. At the very least it would give her a purpose. Something to work towards. She nodded to herself and reached out to take Mason's offered hand up.
"Okay" she said simply, brushing off her own collection of Mojave sand and slinging her new rifle across her back.
"Good" said Mason "Hit the barracks and get some sleep. I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning."
Hours later, when the moon had risen high over the unification statue, Mason sat on the roof of the barracks with his legs stretched out, back propped against the low sandbag wall, and eyes closed in a state of semi-sleep. Ranger Ghost stood next to him at her post, eyes mostly fixed on the road, but occasionally drifting down to where her brother ranger slept. She shook her head and sighed, shifting her weight to ease the ache from hours of standing.
His voice came suddenly out of the dark.
"Spit it out little sister. Your silence is deafening."
"I don't have to say anything Alec. You already know what I'm thinking."
"Yes, I suppose I do, but it won't be like last time. She's way smarter than my last recruit"
Ghost rolled her eyes and kicked him hard with the point of her boot.
"You're a dick, you know that?" Ghost had been his last recruit. "And you know damn well I'm thinking about Arizona."
Mason tilted his head up and gave her a full-on glare. "It won't be like that either."
"I sure as hell hope not, for your sake."