Hey everybody! Welcome to my new chapter. It's taken me awhile but the chapter is kinda short. It's full of action though! My wonderful partner is almost finished with hers too. Onward chapter 4!
Chapter 4
The days crawled by, full of amber sunlight and dry, hot evenings. Courier Six played endless games of Caravan with strangers in the motel lobby. Miss Crawford kept strict control over her till. No-Bark Noonan, the local nutjob, rambled his way through days of drinking and card games. Manny kept the peace by day and Boone by night. Everything was normal.
Boone offered Tiani occasional shooting lessons, and let her kill wandering Geckos that loped into her field of vision. He seemed to have some kind of affection for her, or at least sympathy. Tiani loved the lessons. She was comfortable up in Dinky's mouth, with the wind in her face and the world laid out before her like a rocky map. The horizon seemed to glow with mysterious radiance, beckoning her onward.
Tiani took to accompanying Courier Six to the Gibson Scrap Yard, to the outskirts of HELIOS One, and to a makeshift camp he'd set up near the REPCONN museum. When her workday ended, she brought her 9mm out into the parking lot, where Courier Six stood waiting with a veritable armory stuffed in his Pip-Boy. They wandered together down the crumbling roads, speaking only when Six corrected her aim or tinkered with her weapon. He gave her more ammo for her "inferior gun" and a combat knife for "emergencies." Tiani didn't know what kinds of emergencies she would encounter in the Dino Dee-Lite, but for her future, she appreciated the weapon.
One day Tiani and the Courier took a trip through the desert in search of plants for yet another carafe of Wasteland coffee. They shot at occasional Geckos too stupid to avoid a fight. There was even a dramatic moment where three large dogs shot out of the spiny underbrush and knocked the weapon from Tiani's hand. The Courier took care of them in short order. After that, they decided it was time to take a break and get off the main road.
They sat down on the bumper of an ancient, crispy car to share a bottle of water and a Bighorner steak. Tiani ate in silence, savoring the food. It gave her time to analyze that day's performance. She had shot a Blowfly and blown a hole through its left wing, giving Six enough time to beat it to death with a baseball bat. Other than that, she hadn't accomplished much. Six kept up a brisk pace too slow to be called a run, but Tiani's breath ran out long before the Courier stopped for a break. Her stamina was definitely much improved from her days at the Dino Dee-Lite, but if she wanted to travel, she needed to work a little harder.
These facts discouraged Tiani. All day she had been considering a possibility. When Courier Six finally left Novac, she wanted to accompany him. Novac had become her home, true, but everyone has to leave home sometime. Now safe from the Legion, Tiani still wanted to see the world. Even if she only went as far as New Vegas, she still wanted to go, and hopefully in the company of the Courier. She had grown to love Novac as an adoptive home, full of kindness and safety. They had protected her from the Legion. With the help of Courier Six she had amassed a pack suitable for at least a month of travel. Without a Pip-Boy her carrying capacity was limited, but her pack contained enough to outfit her for all contingencies.
Courier Six was similarly silent. He had been brooding all day, and he seemed easily distracted. He hadn't noticed the dogs until one had knocked Tiani down and rushed at her throat. He took a gulp of water and immediately covered his face with his bandanna. The food he hadn't touched. He tapped his feet in slow time, perhaps listening to music in his head. Probably I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire. "So how many Broc Flowers did we find?" she asked him.
"Huh?" He snapped to attention, nearly sliding off the bumper in the process. The old Corvega gave a groan of protest. He froze. The metal decided to stay stable for at least another day. Seeing that he wasn't about to go tumbling into the dirt, Six relaxed. "Um . . ." he consulted his Pip-Boy, "twelve. Plenty for healing powder."
"Do you know how to make those?" she asked, interested. Maybe he could teach her the recipe.
"Yep," responded the Courier, sounding smug. "I spent a long time learning how to survive on my own. I hate relying on people. They're too . . . unreliable."
"Oh." Tiani paused. Now was the perfect chance to ask. A little flame of hope burned in her belly. She nearly trembled with anticipation. "So, you don't ever travel with companions?"
"Nah," said the Courier. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag. "I like travelling alone. It's peaceful. I can smoke and drink and kill whatever I want."
"Oh." Tiani swallowed a lump of disappointment. "All right." The question she longed to ask danced on her lips, but she knew he would never agree. He would never accept her as a companion. She wasn't very good at shooting, obviously. She couldn't walk as fast as him. She couldn't make healing powder. She could never survive out there. Six threw himself into danger every day. It was a stupid dream.
"Why?" asked the Courier. His cigarette poked out of the darkness beneath his hat. Smoke coiled up around the brim in lazy, irregular loops. Even though she couldn't see his face, she had a feeling he was grinning. "Still thinking about leaving Novac?"
"Yes . . . ." She didn't ask. She kept her eyes off him and fiddled with a hole in her trousers. "Eventually."
Six scuffed his feet against the ground. Tiani watched him draw aimless patterns in the dirt with his worn-down boots. "I'm leaving the day after tomorrow," Six blurted out, breaking the silence. His words echoed through the stale air. "I've figured out how to finish my business. It's gonna be done soon. And . . . I think I need to go to New Vegas."
Her heart leapt in her chest. "Really?"
"Yeah, really," grumbled the Courier. "I don't just say things, you know; I mean what falls out of my mouth."
Tiani ducked her head. "Sorry."
The Courier shifted. "It's m'fault," he grunted, embarrassed. "You ain't doing nothing wrong. I just . . . eh, I don't wanna leave. Novac's like . . . home. Even if it has its little problems, it's home."
"It is," Tiani agreed solemnly, "but everyone has to leave home sometime, don't you think?"
He sighed. "Yeah." He sounded so forlorn that Tiani impulsively put an arm around his shoulders. She felt a solid fame beneath the ancient trench coat, a sturdy body covered in rigid armor. He tensed, then settled and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for a while, gazing off into the distance, occupied in their own daydreams.
Finally, Courier Six straightened. He gently disengaged from Tiani's embrace and said, rather kindly, "I think it's time to get home, little girl."
She wrinkled her nose. "Tiani," she told him.
"Exactly."
)-(
Tiani was cleaning the lobby when the dust-covered citizen ran in.
His eyes were wide with fear that had not yet devolved into utter panic. There was a smear of blood on the front of his shirt; a shallow scratch on his arm was the source of it. His hair was in wild disarray. A broken baseball bat dangled from his loose grip. There were shiny, blistered black patches running up the wood. He trembled like a frail plant in a windstorm, mere inches from hysteria.
Tiani didn't think. She ran toward him, arms outstretched, and eased him into a chair before his knees could give out. The bucket she had been using to make coffee thumped against the floor, slopping precious water everywhere. She didn't care. She didn't like the look of the man's face. He babbled incoherently as she ran to him. His face was pale white underneath a layer of road dirt. He reeked of sweat and fear.
"Geckos," he gasped. Tiani slipped the baseball bat from his hand. Her own weapon, the 9mm that had been a gift from Boone so long ago, was upstairs in the Courier's room, being repaired. She didn't want to leave the man alone in the dim room, but it was at least safer than being outside. She opened the door, flooding the room with sunlight and heat.
Outside, in the center of the parking lot, were half a dozen Geckos; four feet of bipedal, squalling nuisance. They were rather annoying on their own, but in packs they posed a serious threat to even mercenaries. There was a large circle of Wastelanders fighting them with pipes, bats, and rebar clubs. Most of the Geckos were the valuable golden ones from Clark Field; Tiani had shot and killed one the day before. The one in the very center of the cluster, however, had mottled red-and-purple skin along with spiky fins on its head: a Fire Gecko. The first cold brush of fear slipped down her back.
"Get away!" she yelled to the Wastelanders. They glanced up at her as one, a multi-headed monster bristling with clubs instead of teeth. The regular Geckos abandoned the fiery one to purse the easy, human prey. The Fire Gecko took in a deep breath and shot a full fifteen feet of flame, burning one of its mates to death. The smell of roasted flesh and smoky fumes rose in a choking cloud.
The wastelanders retreated, most of them attempting to flee in the absence of battle-lust. The Gecko breathed fire in their direction. They stopped, unable to get by. Tiani could see the helpless terror in their eyes.
Boone burst out of his cabin, his rifle in his hand. His face was pale except for the hectic blots of bright color in his cheekbones. As nervous as he may have been, his aim was as steady and calm as ever. Bullets flew, killing two Geckos and wounding a third. Most of the wastelanders fled, dropping their clubs on the way out the gate. A few had to vault over the corpses of the dead mutants. Tiani ducked and hid behind the partition that separated the breezeway from the parking lot. Her heart beat hard in her throat. A Gecko lumbered around the divider and swiped at her. The claws on the creature's outstretched paw seemed ten feet long. Its foul breath enveloped her. Gagging, Tiani scrambled away from it. When it reached for her again, she clubbed it across the face with the bat, sending charred splinters everywhere. The Gecko squawked. The injury was enough of a distraction for Boone to shoot the creature in the head. It died with a weird, bubbling gasp and flopped over on Tiani's doorstep, blood leaking from its head. She stared at it, morbidly fascinated. To think that something so vicious was in fact so fragile . . . .
There was a sudden yelp of pain from the parking lot, and a loud clattering. Snapped out of her reverie, Tiani gasped and put her eye to the gap in the partition. Boone lay on his stomach beside his cabin; his gun lay a full fifteen feet away. He attempted to get up and failed; his trembling leg gave out under him.
The Gecko advanced on him, snarling.
Thrills of terror raced through Tiani. She cast a desperate eye around the lot, looking for a suitable weapon. The knife hanging in her belt was too short. Her hands felt numb. Thoughts whirled in her mind like startled birds, images of Boone lying in a pool of his own blood or crisped to a cinder. Boone couldn't die now. Not after he'd been so kind to her. She had to do something! Oh, what she wouldn't give to have her gun!
Quick, Tiani, think! Find something!
There. A thick wooden board lying on the ground, probably torn off one of the windows. She seized it, ignoring splinters that dug into her vulnerable flesh. The board was light enough to carry, and heavy enough to do some damage. She crept out from behind the partition. Boone's eyes widened when he saw her. Carefully he reached into his pocket and withdrew something shiny; a spent .44 cartridge. He tossed it to the left. The Gecko stopped and followed it with its bulging eyes. A foolish move on Boone's part, surely, but it bought Tiani time.
"Hey!" she yelled. "Yoo-hoo! Monster! Here boy! Leave Boone alone!"
The Gecko whirled around. It stood in place, waving its little arms. Tiani saw mad hate in its eyes. As soon as its back was turned, Boone began to slowly crawl away, pulling his long body with tanned, muscular forearms. His face was contorted with pain and concentration. He threw another cartridge; this one rolled between the Gecko's legs. It paused, engrossed in the shiny object at its feet. Tiani raised the board and whacked the Gecko smartly near its shoulder joint. It shrieked, a grossly human sound, and once more focused its attention on her.
Tiani circled the beast, watching its movements closely. It twitched, squealed, and darted forward. Tiani swung her board into the side of the Gecko's head. Squawking indignantly, the Gecko drew in a deep breath. It was preparing to breathe fire.
"KID! MOVE!" Tiani reacted instantly. She threw herself to the side at the exact second the Gecko began to exhale. Its head exploded, splattering Tiani with gore. The headless body flopped to the ground. Tiani looked up. The Courier stood by the door to his motel room, a Magnum .357 in his hand. He looked relaxed and calm, as though the killing didn't faze him. "You were almost dinner, girl," he said mildly, holstering his pistol with a little flourish. "I'm surprised you moved in time."
"Well I do know how to jump," said Tiani crossly, dropping her blood-splattered board. "I am aware that fire is a bad thing."
The Courier chuckled. "Kid, you got guts, I'll tell you—" He stopped. His hand dropped to his gun. Tiani had one split second to think oh my God he can't be that fast no one is that fast before the gun exploded into thunder. She caught an impression of noise and blurred movement as the bullet passed by her ear. There was a scream behind her, one of surprise but not pain, and hot blood drenched her back. She turned around on legs that felt like stilts, numbly aware of Boone moaning in shock, and some wastelander weeping. A second Fire Gecko lay on the concrete, bleeding from the side of the head. One furious, pain-glazed eye rolled up to look at her. Tiani lifted the board high and swung as hard as she could.
Blood flew.
The red haze of battle slowly faded away as Tiani stared down at the corpse of the Gecko. Sweat and blood dripped from her forehead. Her clothes were a gory mess, she noted with dismay. Such strange things to be thinking of and worrying about after a battle as intense as this had been. She squinted up at the motel balcony. Courier Six hadn't moved. He remained standing in front of his door, lounging on the railing, smoking yet another cigarette. "Lovely day out," he remarked, and vanished back into his room.
)-(
A few hours later, after taking a long and hot bath, Tiani dressed herself in clean clothes (her old ones, deemed too dirty and bloody to be mendable, had been burned) and went upstairs to Room 107, bearing a bottle of Scotch as a thank you gift. She knocked politely on the door, tossing a sheaf of hair out of her face as she did so. "Courier Six? Can I talk to you?" There was no response. She tried the knob. The door was unlocked. It swung open on rusty hinges, revealing the dingy room behind. She slipped inside. Suspicion loomed in her mind. "Courier Six?"
A crash from the bathroom, accompanied by breaking glass. Her heart caught in her throat. She almost dropped the Scotch onto the stained carpet. Suppose there was a problem? Suppose there was somebody waiting in the bathroom for the Courier to return? Maybe the Courier had overdosed and was having a seizure!
"Courier Six!" She banged on the bathroom door. "Are you in there?! Are you okay?"
"Gods curse you, don't come in!" The voice sounded too high, like a child faking a man's voice. Tiani threw open the door. The bright lights inside almost blinded her. She blinked. A woman with jet black hair, wearing only a shift, sat perched on the rim of the filthy bathtub. Her eyes were red, her face haggard. A line of blood dripped from one nostril. There was a curved piece of thin metal lying on the edge of the sink, and the Courier's favorite goggles were hanging from the tub faucet. The shattered remains of a shot glass littered the floor by the woman's small, bare feet. The neck of a vodka bottle peeked out of the sink.
Tiani tensed up. Her hand dropped to the knife strapped to her thigh. "Who are you?" she demanded, trying to sound braver than she truly felt. Even unarmed, the woman looked dangerous. "Where's Courier Six?!"
"Oh, shut up," groaned the woman, "my head is killing me."
"Where's Six?!" Tiani yelled. Her voice echoed in the grimy bathroom. The black-haired woman winced and pressed her small, scarred hands to her ears. "Answer me!"
"I AM Courier Six!" the woman snapped. She sounded querulous and weary. "And if you don't stop asking silly questions—"
Tiani pointed her knife at the stranger. "Courier Six is a man!"
With a sigh the woman picked up the strange plate. It fit neatly around her mouth and tied behind her head by means of a leather strap and a makeshift clasp. Now that Tiani saw the front of the metal mask, she noticed a little square mesh imbedded in it. "I AM Courier Six," the woman repeated, and the voice that issued from the speaker was the deeper, haughty, emotionless voice of the gunslinger that had saved her life only a few hours before.
See anything wrong? Tell me! I love knowing when I messed something up. It improves my writing. Of course, if you have something nice to say, feel free to say that too! Please review!