OoO( 4 )OoO
That morning, the young man awoke, but didn't open his eyes immediately. It was a typical reflex from living with a man who was a night owl through and through. At random times when he woke up in the vault, his father would already have the lights on and be hard at work on his terminal, or talking to patients. This resulted in a disgruntling groan as the light stabbed through his tiredness and woke him immediately out of his sleepy state.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, only to find darkness. Slightly surprised, he tried to move, and found that someone was laying on top of him. Suddenly, the memories came flooding back. The escape, the raiders, and Megaton. He flopped back into his flattened pillow as he sighed heavily. Despite all of those things being real, Nova was too. He could feel the weight of her head on his chest, and her arm over his stomach as she continued to sleep without him.
Smiling slightly, he remembered the previous night. After the awkward talk about caps and having to pay for her company, she beamed happily at him. Tossing the small stash of caps on the dresser as if it were just an afterthought, she practically bulldozed into him and opened a universe of possibility that he never knew about. He'd had a taste back in the vault, when he and Amata explored one another intimately. But he never knew what lay just beneath the surface, what his body was crying for every time he saw Amata's bra, or when he accidentally saw Christie in her underwear after she'd gotten into her father's alcohol.
Most of that was thanks to his father. The man was a doctor, so any explanation related to the sex topic was practically word for word from a data file. So cold and scientific that humans reproducing by flinging spores at one another sounded more romantic. The only clue he had was his time with Amata, and his comic books, where the romance was so passionate that it seemed almost mythical. But that illusion was shattered last night.
The educational videos in the vault told the young men and women of Mister Brotch's class that prostitution was a profession, and shouldn't be chosen over a true relationship with one of their peers. Something about it meaning more, being more fulfilling, and more satisfying. But that couldn't have been any less false than what he experienced last night. Despite the very 'cold and businesslike approach' that the videos preached, Nova lit up the world for him. He didn't know if she was this enthusiastic with all of her customers, or if he was some special case. But he was forever grateful for her assistance in getting his mind off the nightmare of yesterday.
Staring down in the darkness to her naked, busty silhouette, he gently ran his hand through her short, red locks and down to the bare skin of her back. He was pretty sure that she was older than him, though she refused to say how much so in one of their breaks the night previous. Even so, he was still slightly taller than her, easily allowing him to reach down to her bare, curvy hip and start running his fingers over the soft skin.
At his gentle touch, the fiery woman awoke and purred gently into his pale chest. "Mmmm...good morning stud."
He smiled gently and leaned his head back against the rickety headboard of the bed, his hand continuing its exploration of her sultry curves. "Morning."
But she wasn't having any of it, and smacked his hand playfully before sitting up in the bed. The room was still dark, but the sun was starting to shine through some of the cracks in the imperfect structure of the wall, giving him a clean view of all of her assets as she stretched. "Sorry champ. If we're going to go again, I need some coffee, a cigarette, and we need to take care of business." she said in a playful tone.
Her statement reminded him of something else she had taught him last night. Looking over at the small stand next to the bed, he saw the pack of cigarettes that she had given him. On top of the Overseer preaching about their relationships, he had also had an anti-drug video that taught them about carcinogens, as well as the stronger drugs like hallucinogens, inhalants, opioids, and amphetamines. When he was in the vault, he rolled his eyes at the educational material, asking himself who would be stupid enough to subject themselves to such things.
But, ever the teacher, Nova taught him that while in the vault, he had a high life expectancy, and would likely live to see the results of such poor choices. But out here, his chances of survival dropped immensely. "We're all on our way to death's door kid. No point in not enjoying the trip there." And the thought resonated in his head. So he tried it, and hated it. But he kept trying it until it became tolerable, giving Nova a break from both their physical activity, as well as conversation as he tried to regulate his breathing again and stop the coughing.
Now, he could tolerate it, and even somewhat enjoyed the calming sense that it gave him. Reaching over, he picked the box up and pulled one out for both of them, before lighting it and breathed in the smoke. It still did weird things to him, but he could deal with it now. Exhaling the smoke heavily, he stood and stretched his sore muscles.
This time, it was Nova's turn to stare. She didn't know what kind of intense workout he had gone through in the vault, but she certainly appreciated the toned body that it had given him. He wasn't bulging with muscle by any measure, but he looked like he was a figure carved out of pale wood. She admired him, with his delicate, undamaged skin thanks to the artificial lights within the vault. Even without the full light of the sun shining in the room, she could still see the shadowing of his muscle, and was already looking forward to another night with him. As she was staring, the young man picked up his Vault 101 branded jumpsuit and sighed heavily. Cocking an eyebrow, she asked, "Something wrong sugar?"
"Ugh..." was all he managed before throwing the torn suit onto the bed. The previously flawless cloth was now marred by a long slash of red down the center, and the arm had a bullet hole through it that had torn even wider sometime during the fight with the raiders. "I don't think I can wear that and walk outside. People will look at me and start running."
Nova started laughing gently. "Probably." she said as she took another puff from her cigarette. "Looks like you need to go shopping." she remarked before starting to gather her own clothes.
"I didn't have much room for a planned trip when I left. I grabbed what was necessary and ran. Clothes weren't on that list unfortunately" he said in irritation as he plopped down on the bed.
"So, that was your only jumpsuit?" she asked curiously, getting a nod from him. "Well, you could just stay in here and keep me all to yourself for the rest of your life." she said, giving him an innocent smile.
He just glared at her as he released another cloud of the toxic smoke from his nostrils. "You're not helping..."
She giggled again, then smashed out the clover and began to slip her own clothes on. When she finished, she opened the door to the room. "I'll be right back. Just sit right here and wait for me." she commanded as she closed the door behind her. He cocked his eyebrow at her exit, but just sat on the bed and finished his clover. After a few minutes, he realized she wasn't just running to the girls room and decided to examine the small drone he had picked up the previous night. Turning to his bedside table again, he grabbed a knife and began to undo the seals around the edges of the small sphere that were holding the speaker in place.
Once he finally pried the destroyed device from the robot's face, he reached back for his ruck of parts, but stopped as the door opened once more. Nova walked in with several layers of clothing over her arm and shut the door behind her. Turning to him, she saw the curious bot and eyed it oddly before finally tossing the clothing at him. "There you go sugar." she said, smiling as he set the device aside and picked up one of the jumpsuits that she had thrown at him. There were a total of three, and all matched with a slate grey color.
"Where exactly did you get these?" he asked, looking at her with a curious eye.
"What's it matter? Just put them on." she commanded, flapping her hands at him as she stood with her back to the door, watching him hungrily. Grabbing his shirt, he pulled it on over his head, then took one of the jumpsuits and began dressing. Sliding his legs in, he started zipping it up until finally he was fully encased in the new outfit.
Surprised that it fit so well, he began to flex his arms and legs to make sure nothing was too tight at the edges. "These are surprisingly comfortable." he remarked, then looked down at the patch over the right breast. "Moira?" he asked as he tore the patch clean from the suit.
Nova nodded and gave him a gorgeous smile. "I know you're probably used to wearing jumpsuits, and she just happens to have like...six spares. So I thought I'd...get a few from her." remarked the woman as she watched him sit on the bed and start putting his boots on.
Crossing his arms, he stared at her curiously. "And she just gave it to you?" he questioned, wondering if he wasn't getting the whole story.
As if to mimic him, she crossed her own arms under her bosom, with an annoyed look on her face. "Don't worry about it." she ordered, a slight growl in her voice.
He chuckled and nodded to her. "Alright alright." he conceded as he finished tying his other boot, then stood to his full height. Despite being inside, he still felt his skin itch. He then realized that he'd need a shower soon. "Who is this Moira anyway?"
"She's the owner of Craterside Supply. It's the only surplus store within miles of this place. So if you want to get rid of some of your excess weight there..." she said, nodding towards the guns beside the bed. "She's the one to take them to."
Nodding, he started to gather the weapons and lay them out on the bed. "That's not a bad idea. Most of them would just weigh me down." Looking back up to her, he asked, "By the way, is Moriarty in yet?"
She shrugged apologetically. "Sorry, I'm not sure sugar. I went straight to Craterside and back. Didn't think to stop and ask." Despite her not knowing, he got the sense from her tone that he wasn't in for great news when he left.
"That's alright, I'm heading out there anyway. I'll stop by and find out." he finished as he took enough caps for supplies for later. Despite the tour Billy had given him on the previous night, he still wanted to see what the glorious Megaton looked light in broad daylight. Previously, he had seen the city in shadows, a very sinister scene with the bomb at the dead center.
She smiled and opened the door. "Alright hun. See you tonight, hopefully." she chimed before winking at him, then closed the door behind her as she headed into the saloon.
He looked back at the guns he had just laid out on the bed and decided that he needed to choose what he wanted to keep and what he wanted to sell. Lugging all of them around, while well prepared, left him extremely worn out and unable to react quickly in case he were ambushed by more raiders. Examining each of them, he first decided that the 10mm that Amata had given him was staying.
The assault rifle had done him very well thus far, and he liked having something that he could reliably spray fire with, upping his chance of hitting something while behind cover, so it was staying as well. Last night during one of their breaks, he had consolidated all the weapons' ammo into magazines that were now placed in his ruck, leaving the weapons bare. Along with the pistol and assault rifle, he had collected an entire collection of different knives, a claw hammer, three .32 caliber revolvers, two other 10mm pistols, a 10mm sub-machine gun, a hunting rifle, and a double-barreled shotgun. He sighed to himself as he looked at the collection.
"I don't think this is what dad had in mind when he was teaching me to shoot..." he complained as he tossed the .32 caliber pistols into his ruck for hocking. One of the other 10mm pistols, the submachine gun, all of the knives, and the double barreled shotgun went into the bag as well. The hammer he picked up and looked at briefly before throwing it behind him. "Barbarians..."
Picking his baton and pistol up from his pillow, he stashed the baton in the belt that he had saved from his vault jumpsuit, allowing it to be hidden from sight whenever his rucksack was on his back. The utilitarian belt had many pockets and compartments, as well as snaps and small securing hooks to allow things like tools to hang from your sides. He placed both of the pistols he was keeping into leg mounted harnesses that were be built into the new jumpsuit, then slid the automatic rifle over his head, the strap allowing it to stay firmly against his back once adjusted. Finally, the hunting rifle, a weapon kept in case he needed a weapon to take things out at a distance, he strapped to his ruck.
Picking up the rather heavy rucksack, he kicked the door to the room open and walked out into the saloon, where he was greeted by an appreciative whistle. Looking over, he saw Nova staring at him admiringly. "Looks like that new jumpsuit works for you." she said smiling. "You going to win a war somewhere?" she asked.
He chuckled at her as he approached the bar. "Hopefully not. I don't really like using these more than necessary." he said as he eyed the ghoul across the bar from him. Finally, Gob looked up from where he was cleaning the bar.
"Damn kid, packing up to take out more raiders?" he asked, his usual warbling voice now sporting a lighthearted chuckle.
"'Fraid not Gob. What I am ready to do is talk to Moriarty. Is he around yet?" asked the young man eagerly. It had been the first thing on his to do list today, and he intended to do it. But from the worried expression on Gob's face, he figured he wasn't about to cross that off just yet.
"Uhh...sorry boss. He left this morning before Nova came out. I tried to tell him you wanted to see him, but he said if I talked to him again while he had a hangover he was going to remove what was left of my skin and feed it to me." said the ghoul as he looked down at the bar submissively. The worst part of this situation to John was that he couldn't tell whether Gob was reacting to the memory of Moriarty's threat, or he thought the vault dweller was going to attack him for it.
He just sighed and rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Gob, I'm not going to hit you."
"O-Oh...thanks..." said the ghoul as he stopped cringing. "So used to people throwing beer bottles at the first sign of bad news." he said in a morose tone.
"And Moriarty allows this?" asked John curiously, his anger simmering lightly as he tapped his fingers on the bar.
"Of course not. Each bottle thrown is one less he can sell back to them later." said the ghoul matter-of-factly. The irritation on John's face must have been extremely apparent. "You alright kid? You look like you'd like to chuck some yourself."
He snorted. "Yeah, right at Moriarty..." he said under his breath. Turning back to Gob, he asked, "Did he say when he would be back?"
Gob shook his head mournfully. "No, but he was going to have a talk with one of his suppliers. That kind of thing usually takes days."
John just smiled and nodded. "Thanks Gob, appreciate it." he said and headed for the door. "You two watch my room for me. If anyone goes near it, come get me." he said, getting a nod from the woman and the ghoul. Opening the door, he stepped out into the sunlight, and again had to cover his eyes as the blaring sun jabbed at him. The going was slow along the walkways as he tried to remember where Billy took him to get to Craterside Supply, but he finally found the way and opened the door hastily to get out of the sun again.
Relief flooded him as the light of the sun vanished, and the half light of the store eased on his eyes. As his vision cleared of spots, he noticed that there were two people inside the shop. One, a short woman with muddy brown hair tied up in a bun on the back of her head, and wearing a matching jumpsuit to his. Currently, she was behind the counter of her store, hammering on something wildly with the head of a claw hammer. The other, from the looks of him, was likely some kind of bouncer. Automatic weapon on his back, thick hide armor from foot to throat, and a look that said he had much better things he'd rather be doing.
As the young man entered the store, the guard immediately stood up to his full height. The guns must have that effect on him a lot. "Take it easy, I'm here to buy and sell, not to cause trouble." John said to the guard, his heart picking up slightly at the aggression. The man, who had a small beard and matching, sandy blonde hair, just mean-mugged him and leaned back against the wall.
As soon as his voice was heard, the woman sprung up from behind the counter with a bright smile. "Oh! A new customer!" she said excitedly as she stood up straight behind the counter. "Hi there! What can I do fer ya?" she asked curiously in a very northerly accent. He hadn't heard words like that since one of the vault's Yule movies during the holidays.
John walked up to the counter and pulled the ruck off his back, then set it onto the counter. Taking the hunting rifle off the top of the bag, he held it away from himself so that the bouncer didn't get any crazy ideas. "Want some weapons?" he asked curiously. The young man had to keep from laughing as the woman's eyes almost sparkled.
"Oh boy! What kind?" she asked. He opened the rucksack and tipped it over on the counter, letting the assorted weapons spill out on the surface. The curious woman's eyes shined brightly as she saw the knives. "Ooohhh...I love knives." she said excitedly. John stared at her oddly as she took each knife and laid them in a neat row along the counter while the guns lay untouched.
"Are...you alright?" he asked with concern. He didn't want to assume drugs right off the bat, but it also wouldn't surprise him if the woman was swimming in chemicals.
She looked up at him, a questioning look on her face. Then she nodded. "Oh dontcha worry about little ol' me." she said, going back to her previous task. In a manner of minutes, all of the equipment he had laid out in front of her was in neat order in front of her. "So, ya wanna sell all these huh?" she asked, her eyes scanning over the lot, as if seeing them for the first time. He merely nodded. "I'll give ya a hundred caps for all the knives, and two hundred for the guns, given their state of repair." she said, smiling and planting her hands on her jumpsuited hips.
He just nodded. "That's fine. Do you repair weapons?" he asked, the last part of her statement egging at him.
She nodded. "Unless it's a melted pile of slag, I can repair it. Well...weapons that is. Can't do much on anything else." she said, looking to the side as if she were ashamed of her inability.
He smiled. "I'm good at repairing machinery, but I haven't had any experience in weapons. So I'll tell you what, just put the caps you gave me for these..." he said waving towards the weapons on the counter. "Into repairing these." he said, handing her the ruck sack. She took it with one hand and opened it up. He immediately took a step backwards, uncertain about the woman. Even with some of the guns gone from the bag, he still needed two hands to balance it. She just took it with one hand without a thought and began rummaging around inside it. While she was rummaging, he noticed a curious patch from her arm staring up at him. But before he could think much about it, she snapped the bag closed and set it aside.
"Alright, ya got yerself a deal." she said cheerfully.
He nodded nervously. "Alright...when should I be back?"
"Should be done by sundown. In the meantime, since yer a good repairman and all, Walter's been looking for a sidekick to help him in the water plant up top." she said, pointing towards the wall. "If'n yer looking for work that is…"
"Thanks...I guess I'll be here a while, so it wouldn't hurt to help out a bit." he said. "I'll just leave the ruck here with you since I'll see you later anyway. Thanks again!" he said waving as he left, getting an excited wave back. As he exited the door, he just shook his head. "Good to see cartoons aren't dead out here." he asked as his feet carried him up the ramp to the water plant.
OoOoO
Hours later, the sun began to set as John mapped out the entire settlement in his head. He had talked to Walter right after his visit to Craterside Supply, who was more than happy to have someone else aboard to help with the many pipe leaks around the town.
It had taken him a couple of hours to track down and fix all the leaks that were spraying water from the plant above into the dirt. As a reward for helping, Walter had let him keep the tools he had let him borrow for the task, on top of a handful of caps. When he had finished, John decided to use his spare time to actually get to know the people of the town. And not surprisingly, there were only a few people he didn't much care for. Jericho, the former raider whose mouth only stopped drinking to insult others, Andy Stahl was about as friendly and inviting as one of the dead trees outside the town, and though he was nice enough, he didn't like the vibe that Confessor Cromwell put off with his preaching.
Everyone else, he got along with swimmingly. Leo Stahl, a drug addict by Johns medical estimate, found out he was fresh out of the vault and offered to teach him how to pick locks, something the vault dweller found extremely interesting and caught onto quickly.
He also finally got to meet Maggie, Billy Creel's young adopted daughter. When he found them, they were crossing his path back to Moira's shop on the upper catwalks. He was signaled by Billy with a friendly wave as the pair stopped in front of him. "Hey! If it isn't our resident vault dweller!" said the man cheerily. "Well...you will be if you decide to stay anyway."
John chuckled at Billy's friendly nature and nodded. "I can't say I will for sure, but the place is nice enough. And it's good to sleep somewhere where I don't have to worry about being attacked in my sleep." remarked the young gunman as he looked down at the young girl standing next to the man. "And who is this?"
"This here is Maggie Montgomery. I told you about her last night." Billy replied as he grinned. Looking down at the young girl who couldn't have been more than ten years old, he nodded. "Say hello to John."
The girl looked from Billy to John, then smiled weakly. "Good to meet you mister." she said quietly, getting an odd look from the stranger.
"Sorry, she's really shy around strangers. To be honest, I prefer it that way." said Billy as he reached up and scratched his head gently.
"Understandable." commented John as he noted the girl's uniquely Asian features. She had hazel-colored eyes and pitch-black hair that fell to her shoulders in a straight curtain. Currently, she was wearing a short-sleeve t shirt with a familiar favorite of his on it, the Unbeatable Shebeast flexing her muscles with onomatopoeia stamped in comic book fashion all over the shirt. "You like comic books?" he asked curiously, watching as her disinterest in the conversation immediately evaporated and she looked up at him in surprise. Slowly, she nodded, making him smile widely. "Me too! Who's your favorite?"
Excitedly, the girl smiled back, showing that she had a large gap where one of her baby teeth had fallen out. "I like them all! But Grognak and Bionic Girl are the best!" she exclaimed happily.
"Very fine taste for one so young." said the young man as he knelt down in front of her. "How about this Maggie, if I find any comics when I'm out and about, I'll bring them back so we can read them. How's that sound?" he asked curiously. The young girl had a look of shock on her face at the offer, but answered his question by leaping forward and hugging him.
"That would be great!" she said, sounding as if she was going to start crying. He was startled by the act, but just reached up and patted her on her back gently. "Thank you Mister John…" she said almost sadly. Such a show of affection had startled him. He hadn't been hugged since he was a child, and feeling it now made him feel a pang of homesickness to the vault. But, he brushed it off and ruffled her hair gently. Pulling away, she held her arms behind her back nervously. "Sorry...there aren't many other kids in town. All they talk about is guns and throw rocks at each other."
"Ah...so you're just relieved to have someone else with similar interests?" he asked, getting a cheery nod from her. He just chuckled and nodded at the young girl. "Don't worry. I'm sure when they see the collection I get you, they'll be interested real quick." he exclaimed, earning a giggle from the young girl.
Billy was practically beaming at the encounter and leaned over to whisper to John while Maggie leaned against the rail to the walkway. "Don't worry man, I can pay you for the comics."
"They wouldn't be gifts then, would they?" he asked as he patted Billy on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it's not like there's some fat cat out there paying a million caps for them that I'd be missing out on. It's no inconvenience to me." he said reassuringly. Billy hesitated, then nodded, a smile of appreciation on his face.
It was about that time that John looked up and noticed that the sun had sunk past the walls, and the sky had faded from a bright blue to a darker lavender, as it does when it nears the horizon. As such, he bid the pair farewell, then headed back to Craterside to find Moira just as eager as before. She was sweeping the dirty floor of her shop when he entered, only looking up when the door closed again.
"Ah! There he is!" she said happily as she walked back behind the counter and presented him with not only his fully repaired weapons, but also a suspender harness and a set of leather armor with 101 already painted on it.
John was astounded as he looked at all of the new offerings, as well as the fully restored weapons. "Uhhh...thanks but...what's the occasion?" he asked, wondering if he should even ask. He didn't imagine gifts like this were given out freely in the wastes, and it might have been better for him to just take them and run.
"Well, as I was fixing yer weapons, I realized that you need weapons because yer eventually going back into the wasteland, right?" she asked, her head tilted slightly sideways as she stared at him curiously.
"Umm...eventually, yeah. Why?" he asked, his eyes wide as the odd woman continued to stare into his soul.
"Weeeell, I was kinda hoping maybe you could help me out with a project. A little tiny one." she said, holding her fingers up about an inch apart. He looked from her fingers to her smiling face and immediately grew suspicious.
"How tiny?" he asked, eyeing her warily and leaning against the counter.
"Well, ya see, I sorta need someone to go out into the wasteland for me to help me finish this project I'm doing called the Wasteland Survival Guide! It's an instruction manual on how to survive in the harsh wastes out there. But, the problem is, I'm running this store so often that I can't go out and do any research. And you're a smart guy yeah?" she asked, never losing her chipper tone.
"Something tells me the answer to that question will be determined by whether I agree to this or not..." he said grimly, wondering what the ditzy woman was conjuring up in her brain. "Look, cut to the chase for me, yeah? What are you wanting me to do?" he asked, leaning forward on the counter on his elbows.
She sighed and looked him straight in the eye with her best puppy expression. "First off, I need you to go to the Super Duper Mart. People need to know where they can and can't find food and medicine out there, and Super Duper Mart is likely a good spot to look for such things."\
He thought about it for a moment. "I guess it doesn't sound that hard...then again, there's no telling what I'll actually find out there." he said, then stood straight in surprise when she smacked the counter in excitement.
"That's what the armor is for! I even gave you some extra rounds to go with it." she said proudly. John reached up and scratched his head, unsure of what to say.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Moriarty isn't going to be back for a few days anyway, I guess it wouldn't kill me to take a look." he said, scratching his chin. "How much for supplies? And how do I find the place?" he asked.
"I can supply you for each trip myself with rations." she said, pulling up the small pack filled with edibles and water. "As for the location, it's off to the southeast. But I have something that should be able to help ya out." she said as she walked over to her terminal. He walked over and eyed her curiously. "So, I noticed that ya had a pipboy. I actually have a program on my terminal here that I got from Reilly, it's a program that allows you to place customizable markers where you wish. And it uses one of the old pre-war satellites up in the atmosphere to track your position along a grid that she created." she said excitedly.
He scratched his head, trying to wrap his head around the program. "So, as I walk, it tracks my movement across a map...so to speak?" he asked, getting a nod from her.
"Problem is, despite Reilly and her Rangers' best efforts, not much of the map is filled out. I managed to pay Jericho to go out and find the mart for me, but he chickened out and came back before examining the store. He said..." she said clearing her throat, then deepening it in a mocking imitation of the former raider. "You never know what the eff is inside those places! I go in there and I could never come out!" she said, giving a small cough as she finished.
John, despite his best efforts, couldn't help but laugh at the cheerful woman's mockery of the hardass former raider. Moira just smiled as the vault dweller recovered. "Alright, you've got a deal. But it's too late tonight. I'll go out tomorrow." he said as he gathered all the gear into the ruck. With her enthusiastic assistance, he put on the armor, which was surprisingly light given how thick it looked.
Before he left, he spotted a pair of tinted goggles strapped to the head of a mannequin. "Uhh...how much for those?" he asked curiously. But the woman just snatched them off the wooden figure's head and shoved them at him.
"All yours! Now go! Shoo!" she said, practically pushing him out the door in her excitement.
He headed back to his room in the saloon and shifted some of the gear in the ruck around, making sure to take only what he needed for the trip. When he finished packing everything up and donning his equipment, he flopped on the bed and lit another cigarette, thinking about their conversation. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright, smoke shooting from his nose. "What the hell did she mean 'each trip?'"